Kidney Stones are very common. You will usually be in a lot of pain and have a few other obvious signs. They happen more often in people who were born male than in those who were born female.
How do you know if you have a kidney stones?
If you have a very small kidney stone, you may not have any symptoms as the stone moves through your urinary system. But if your kidney stone is bigger, you will probably feel something.
Here are 8 signs and symptoms that you might have kidney stones.
1. Back or Side Pain
Kidney stone pain, which is also called renal colic, is one of the worst kinds of pain you can have. People who have had kidney stones say that the pain is like giving birth or getting cut with a knife.
The pain is so bad that more than half a million people go to emergency rooms every year because of it.
Most of the time, pain starts when a stone moves into the ureter, which is a small tube. This makes a blockage, which makes the pressure in the kidney build up. The pressure sends pain messages to the brain through nerve fibres.
Pain from a kidney stone often comes on quickly. As the stone moves, the pain moves and gets stronger in different places.
The ureter contracts as it tries to push the stone out, which makes the pain come and go in waves. Each wave might last a few minutes, then go away and come back.
Most of the time, the pain will be on your side or back, just below your ribs. As the stone moves down your urinary system, the pain may spread to your belly and groyne.
Large stones can hurt more than small ones, but the size of the stone doesn’t always affect how bad the pain is. Even a small stone can hurt when it moves or gets in the way.
2. Pain or burning when you pass Urine
Once the stone gets to where your ureter and bladder meet, it will hurt when you go to the toilet. This could be called dysuria by your doctor.
The pain can be sharp or make your skin burn. You might think you have a UTI if you don’t know you have a kidney stone. A stone can sometimes be accompanied by an infection.
3. Urgency to Pass Urine
Another sign that the stone has moved to the lower part of your urinary tract is that you need to go to the toilet more quickly or more often than normal.
You may have to run to the toilet or feel like you have to go all the time, day and night.
Urgency to go to the toilet can also be a sign of a UTI.
4. Urine with blood in it
One of the most common signs is blood in the pee.People who have kidney stones can trust this source. This is also known as hematuria.
Blood can be dark, red, or pink. Sometimes the blood cells are too small to see without a microscope, but your doctor can test your pee to see if it has blood. This is called microscopic hematuria.
5. Urine that is cloudy or smelly
Urine that is healthy is clear and doesn’t smell bad. If your urine is cloudy or smells bad, it could mean that you have an infection in your kidneys or somewhere else in your urinary system.
Pus in the urine, which is called pyuria, makes the pee look cloudy. Bacteria that cause UTIs can cause the smell. Urine that is more concentrated than normal can also have a smell.
Even if you don’t have a fever, if you have a UTI with a kidney stone, you need surgery right away.
6. Only a little bit at a time
Large kidney stones sometimes get stuck in a ureter. The flow of pee can slow down or stop because of this blockage.
If you have a blockage, you might only be able to pee a small amount each time. When urine stops coming out at all, it is a medical issue.
7. Being sick and throwing up
People who have kidney stones often feel sick and want to throw up.
These symptoms happen because the kidneys and the GI system share nerve connections. Stones in the kidneys can irritate nerves in the digestive system, which can cause an upset stomach.
When you’re in a lot of pain, your body may also make you feel sick and make you throw up.
8. Chills and fever
If you have a fever and chills, it means that your kidney or another part of your urinary tract is infected. This is a dangerous thing that can happen if you have a kidney stone. Besides kidney stones, it can be a sign of other major problems. If you have a fever and pain, you need to see a doctor right away.
When you have an infection, your fever is generally high, at or above 100.4 F (38 C). When you have a fever, you often get chills or shake.