How Common Are Kidney Stones
Each year, more than half a million people go to emergency rooms for kidney stone problems. It is estimated that one in ten people will have a kidney stone at some time in their lives.
The prevalence of kidney stones in the United States increased from 3.8% in the late 1970s to 8.8% in the late 2000s. The prevalence of kidney stones was 10% during 20132014. The risk of kidney stones is about 11% in men and 9% in women. Other diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity may increase the risk for kidney stones.
What Can Be Mistaken For Kidney Stones
The most common kidney stone signs and symptoms are like many other conditions or diseases. As a result, these kidney stone symptoms are often misdiagnosed or mistaken as other illness.
Conditions that can be mistaken for kidney stones, sharing similar symptoms:
- Appendicitis or lower back pain
- Urinary tract infection
- Stomach flu or virus
The most prominent symptoms of kidney stones are severe abdominal or lower back pain. When patients visit the emergency room or their primary care doctor to discuss these symptoms, they can be mistaken as either appendicitis or general lower back pain. Appendicitis is inflammation of a patientâs appendix, located in the lower right side of the abdomen. Some symptoms of appendicitis include sharp abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and migration of the pain to different parts of the lower abdomen. This is very similar to the symptoms presented by patients with kidney stones.
Other symptoms associated with kidney stones can be mistaken for a urinary tract infection . Patients who have kidney stones may experience blood in the urine , foul-smelling urine, abdominal or pelvic pain, and frequent urination. Similarly, patients who have an active UTI will encounter lower abdominal pain, cloudy or bloody urine, and the persistent urge to urinate. Additionally, UTIâs are very common occurrences across the United States.
If you encounter any of these symptoms you should always consult with your physician so that you can be properly diagnosed.
Clinical Features Associated With The Occurrence Of Ibs In Patients With An Initial Urinary Stone Attack
The clinical features of patients in both the study and comparison groups who suffered new-onset IBS are shown in Table 4. We found that IBS was more predominant in the age group of 40 to 49 years and in those with a history of osteoporosis and fibromyalgia in both the study and comparison groups . Furthermore, diabetes was significantly associated with IBS only in the study patients . The results of multiple logistic regression analysis of suffering new-onset IBS for all patients, study patients and comparison patients are shown in Table 5.
Also Check: Is Apple Cider Vinegar Good For The Kidneys
Don’t Miss: Urinary Tract Infection Or Bladder Infection
Other Types Of Urinary Incontinence
- Overflow incontinence This occurs when a person is unable to empty their bladder completely and it overflows as new urine is produced. It’s often found in people with diabetes or spinal cord injuries.
- Mixed incontinence You show evidence of more than one type.
- Functional incontinence This type of incontinence has less to do with a bladder disorder and more to do with the logistics of getting to a bathroom in time. It’s usually found in elderly or disabled people who have normal or near normal bladder control but cannot get to the toilet in time because of mobility limitations or confusion.
- Nocturia The need to urinate twice or more during the night, usually affecting men and women over the age of 60. In men, nocturia can be a symptom of an enlarged prostate.
How Is Urinary Incontinence Diagnosed
Your health care provider may use many tools to make a diagnosis:
- A medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms. Your provider may ask you to keep a bladder diary for a few days before your appointment. The bladder diary includes how much and when you drink liquids, when and how much you urinate, and whether you leak urine.
- A physical exam, which can include a rectal exam. Women may also get a pelvic exam.
- Urine and/or blood tests
Read Also: Earth Animal Urinary And Kidney Relief
When Should I See A Health Care Professional
See a health care professional right away if you are unable to urinate or have severe pain in your abdomen. Acute urinary retention can be life threatening.
If you have any of the other symptoms of urinary retention, such as trouble urinating, frequent urination, or leaking urine, talk with your health care professional about your symptoms and possible treatments. Chronic urinary retention can cause serious health problems.
How Can I Tell If I Have Urinary Incontinence
If you are having urine leakage, you should seek medical care to find out the cause. The doctor will ask you about your medical history and order laboratory tests. The doctor will also examine you. Sometimes, special tests may be done. In one of these, the bladder is filled with fluid. You will then be asked to repeat the action that usually causes you to have urine leakage, such as coughing or straining. X-rays and other measurements are then done to help the doctor find out why you are having the urine leakage.
Recommended Reading: Medline Urinary Drainage Bag With Anti Reflux Tower
What Is A Urinary Tract Infection In Toddlers
A UTI is an infection in your childs urinary tract which includes their kidneys, the ureters that connect them to the bladder and the urethra where urine exits their body. Bacteria get into their urinary tract through the skin around their rectum and genitals or through the bloodstream from any part of their body .
Because it may not be obvious when a child has an infection, especially if theyre too young to voice their symptoms, UTIs in children sometimes go unnoticed. Urinary tract infections need to be treated immediately to prevent the infection from spreading and damaging the kidneys.
Read Also: Thin Pads For Urinary Incontinence
Sclerotherapy Of Kidney Cysts
If a patient is experiencing symptoms such as pain and discomfort, treatment may be required. A procedure called sclerotherapy may be recommended. This involves draining the cyst with a fine needle under ultrasound-guidance. Alcohol is then instilled into the area to harden up the tissue. This is an outpatient procedure that is done under local anesthesia. The cysts can recur in up to 50 percent of cases following sclerotherapy.
Don’t Miss: Why Do I Get Urinary Tract Infections After Intercourse
Fatigue Being Tired All Of The Time
Why this happens:
Healthy kidneys make a hormone called erythropoietin , or EPO, that tells your body to make oxygen-carrying red blood cells. As the kidneys fail, they make less EPO. With fewer red blood cells to carry oxygen, your muscles and brain tire very quickly. This is anemia, and it can be treated.
What patients said:
I was constantly exhausted and didnt have any pep or anything.
I would sleep a lot. Id come home from work and get right in that bed.
Gi Issues Caused By Kidney Stones
Normally, kidney stones cause symptoms such as pressure and pain in your lower back, fever, frequent urination, discomfort urinating, and bloody or discoloured urine. However, sometimes kidney stones can cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and stomach discomfort.
If youre experiencing sudden low back pain and gastrointestinal discomfort, dont ignore the possibility that it might be kidney stones.
Dont Miss: Are Blackberries Good For Kidneys
You May Like: Lower Urinary Tract Obstruction In Fetus
Causes Of Urge Incontinence
The urgent and frequent need to pass urine can be caused by a problem with the detrusor muscles in the walls of your bladder.
The detrusor muscles relax to allow the bladder to fill with urine, then contract when you go to the toilet to let the urine out.
Sometimes the detrusor muscles contract too often, creating an urgent need to go to the toilet. This is known as having an overactive bladder.
The reason your detrusor muscles contract too often may not be clear, but possible causes include:
- drinking too much alcohol or caffeine
- not drinking enough fluids this can cause strong, concentrated urine to collect in your bladder, which can irritate the bladder and cause symptoms of overactivity
Overflow incontinence may also be caused by your detrusor muscles not fully contracting, which means your bladder does not completely empty when you urinate. As a result, the bladder becomes stretched.
Your detrusor muscles may not fully contract if:
- there’s damage to your nerves for example, as a result of surgery to part of your bowel or a spinal cord injury
- you’re taking certain medicines
Testing For Increased Thirst And Urination
These clinical signs are non-specific and can be caused by many different diseases or conditions. Usually increased production of dilute urine results in a compensatory increase in water consumption, but occasionally the condition is one of increased water intake resulting in the production of large volumes of dilute urine.
Recommended Reading: How To Cook Steak And Kidney In A Slow Cooker
Don’t Miss: How Do I Know If I Have Urinary Tract Infection
How Long Does It Take To Pass A Kidney Stone
The amount of time it can take for you to pass a kidney stone is different from anothers. A stone thats smaller than 4 mm may pass within one to two weeks. A stone thats larger than 4 mm could take about two to three weeks to completely pass.
Once the stone reaches the bladder, it typically passes within a few days, but may take longer, especially in an older man with a large prostate. However, pain may subside even if the stone is still in the ureter, so its important to follow up with your healthcare provider if you dont pass the stone within four to six weeks.
Youve Probably Heard That Passing A Kidney Stone Can Be Very Painful But You Might Not Know Exactly What They Are Or How To Avoid One In The First Place
Kidney stones and passing a kidney stone, in particular are notorious for being painful. Theyre also surprisingly common. In fact, 11% of men and 6% of women in the United States will have a kidney stone at least once in their lifetime.
While kidney stone pain is unmistakable, its also possible to have a kidney stone and not even know it. If the stone is small enough to pass through your urinary tract, it may cause little to no pain at all but if its large and gets stuck, you may have severe pain and bleeding.
Kidney stones that cause symptoms or cannot pass on their own need to be treated by a medical professional.
What are kidney stones?
The kidneys two bean-shaped organs located just below the rib cage on each side of the spine filter waste and extra water from the bloodstream to create urine. From the kidneys, urine then moves through two thin tubes, called ureters, into the bladder.
In addition to filtering waste, the kidneys also regulate water, salt and mineral levels in your blood. Renal calculi, the medical term for kidney stones, form when there is a high level of these minerals in the urine.
Are there different types of kidney stones?
Kidney stones can range in size and shape, with some as small as a grain of sand, others the size of a pebble and less commonly, some growing as large as a golf ball. Kidney stones can also be made of different substances, and they are divided into four common types.
The types of kidney stones are:
Topics
Don’t Miss: Why Do I Have A Urinary Tract Infection
Are There Tests To Diagnose The Cause Of Kidney Pain
If you experience kidney pain, your healthcare provider typically will order lab tests to check for abnormalities in your blood or urine. Imaging tests will also be used to visualize the kidneys indirectly.
Other specialist procedures may directly visualize the kidneys or obtain tissue samples via a biopsy if cancer is suspected.
When Should You Have A Urine Test
You should get a urine test if you have new or worsening urinary symptoms like these:
- Pain when urinating.
- Blood in the urine
- A strong urge to urinate often
You should also get a urine test if you have a fever or if a blood test suggests that you have an infection. But before you get a urine test, your doctor should make sure you dont have other symptoms, like a cough, that may be caused by something else.
If you dont have UTI symptoms, you might still need a urine test if you are scheduled to have:
- Prostate surgery.
- Kidney stones removed.
- Bladder tumors removed.
This report is for you to use when talking with your healthcare provider. It is not a substitute for medical advice and treatment. Use of this report is at your own risk.
09/2014
Don’t Miss: How Does One Get A Urinary Tract Infection
Study Subjects And Controls
The present study enrolled a total of 1777 adult subjects who had been diagnosed with primary urinary incontinence between 1997 and 2001, and whose data were included in the National Health Insurance System database in Taiwan. The inclusion criteria were: adult patients aged 18 years at the time of their enrollment in the National Health Insurance program between January 1, 1997 and January 1, 2001, and patients who had been diagnosed with urinary incontinence . Exclusion criteria were: presence of spinal cord injury plus cauda equina syndrome , presence of SCI plus neurogenic bladder and patients with urinary tract stones prior to inclusion in the study. Accordingly, no enrolled subjects had a previous diagnosis of upper urinary tract stones or spinal cord injury. The number of radiologic imaging tests in subjects and controls was matched in order to reduce bias. All subjects were followed to the end of 2009 with a minimum follow-up of 8 years.
What Are The Clinical Signs Of Bladder Stones
The most common signs that a dog has bladder stones are hematuria and dysuria . Hematuria occurs because the stones rub against the bladder wall, irritating and damaging the tissue and causing bleeding. Dysuria may result from inflammation and swelling of the bladder wall or the urethra , from muscle spasms, or from a physical obstruction of urine flow. Veterinarians assume that the condition is painful, because people with bladder stones experience pain, and because many clients remark about how much better and more active their dog becomes following surgical removal of bladder stones.
“If the obstruction is not relieved, the bladder may rupture”
Large stones may act almost like a valve or stopcock, causing an intermittent or partial obstruction at the neck of the bladder, the point where the bladder attaches to the urethra. Small stones may flow with the urine into the urethra where they can become lodged and cause an obstruction. If an obstruction occurs, the bladder cannot be emptied fully if the obstruction is complete, the dog will not be able to urinate at all. If the obstruction is not relieved, the bladder may rupture.
A complete obstruction is potentially life threatening and requires immediate emergency treatment. A urinary obstruction will usually be recognized in a dog that is straining to urinate without producing any urine, or is only producing small squirts of urine.
You May Like: Keflex For Urinary Tract Infection
Do Kidney Stones Cause Incontinence
Kidneys stones can sometimes interfere with urination, since they travel down the tubes leading from the kidneys to the bladder. This can create blockages, which may make it difficult to pass urine. Kidney stones may also make you feel like you need to urinate more often. You may feel an urgent need to use the bathroom. Sometimes this can lead to leaks if you are unable to make it to a bathroom in time.
Causes Of Diarrhea And Uti
It is important to note that diarrhea is a symptom that is usually separate from a UTI. Diarrhea may occur for various reasons, both infectious and non-infectious. UTIs are infections that affect the urinary tract, namely the urethra and bladder but sometimes extending all the way up the ureter to the kidney.
Read more on signs of UTIs.
Also Check: What Juice Helps Urinary Tract Infections
Can I Swim With A Uti
If you have a UTI, you should not go swimming. Although swimming is good for your health, it could worsen your condition.
When you have a UTI you need to rest, and avoid strenuous exercise. Also, if you feel like you might pass out, dont try to swim. Instead, sit down until you recover.
If you do decide to go swimming, however, there is little risk that you would contract another UTI from it, or pass it on to anyone else, as they are not contagious.
Related Read: Does Pee Turn Blue in Swimming Pools?
If you think youve contracted a UTI, youll probably notice some symptoms such as burning on urination, blood in your urine, or lower abdominal pain.
These symptoms usually last between one and two days and will disappear once youve recovered. In rare cases, however, a UTI can become more serious.
In these situations, the symptoms can last longer than expected, and can even lead to kidney failure.
Therefore, if you experience any of the above symptoms, you should see your doctor right away.
You May Like: Magnetic Therapy For Urinary Incontinence
How Do You Treat Kidney Stones
Waiting for the kidney stone to pass is the most common form of treatment. This can take from a few days to a few weeks. Luckily, over-the-counter pain medications can help relieve most of the discomfort you may feel.
However, if youre in unbearable pain, or the stone becomes lodged for too long, surgery to remove the stone may be required.
Also Check: Goat Urinary Tract Infection Treatment