Filtering your bloodstream to remove waste and hazardous materials is a central function of your urinary system, and the work starts in your kidneys. These bean-shaped organs on both sides of your abdomen filter enough blood daily — more than 50 gallons — to fill a bathtub, and balance the levels of fluids and electrolytes in the body.
Renal calculi, or kidney stones, are crystalline structures that form in your kidneys and can cause problems that affect normal urinary function. Frequently, people who develop them complain of pain, but other symptoms can also indicate you may have them.
Let’s have a closer look at why kidney stones develop, the non-painful signs that come with them, and what can be done to treat and avoid them. Drs. Craig Herman and Steven Kester and the staff at Urology Center of Florida help residents in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, and South Florida with many urinary problems, including kidney stones.
Because urine is the final product of the urinary system, which removes waste, it contains microscopic traces of various minerals and acids. The concentration of minerals such as calcium, uric acid, sodium, and oxalate contributes to the formation of crystalline stones.
Risk factors for kidney stones include insufficient fluid intake, a high-protein diet, various gastric surgeries, certain medications, eating lots of sodium-rich and sugary foods, family history, and blockages in your urinary tract.
Different types of discomfort, such as radiating pain, side pain, and painful urination, frequently happen when someone has kidney stones. However, these other symptoms also indicate you should get help for kidney stones:
This is the medical term for blood in your urine. You may have no pain, and the blood may not be visible to the naked eye. But, if your urine is pink, red, or brown, it’s likely due to blood.
As a stone moves through your ureter (which connects directly to your kidneys), it can lead to pressure that causes a persistent need to go to the bathroom.
Light yellow urine is normal, but if your pee is clouded or smells stronger than usual (often described as an ammonia scent), it can indicate the kidneys are working harder to clear out waste, which can gather to form stones.
A combination of some basic changes and medical treatments can manage and prevent kidney stones. Drinking more water (between six and eight glasses daily) can help improve urine flow and reduce the incidence of kidney stones. Medications can manage pain and reduce the formation of different types of stones.
Non-invasive procedures, like lithotripsy, can break up larger stones to make them easier to pass, while surgical methods like ureteroscopy can be effective when more conservative treatments don’t work.
Whether you’re dealing with pain from kidney stones, any of the other symptoms we’ve discussed, or a combination, make an appointment with Dr. Herman or Dr. Kester and the Urology Center of Florida team today to get help. Our office is in Pompano Beach, Florida.
