At some point of our lives, we would have experienced back pain in the region below the ribcage. Not all the back pain has significance. If it is associated with other symptoms back pain can be due to kidney disorders and the pain is felt mostly in one side of the body. Flank pain is pain experienced on the back in the area below the ribs and upper abdomen. Sometimes the pain may radiate towards the center portion of the abdomen.
There are many causes of flank pain and not all of them are related to kidney issues. For some people flank pain occurs when kidney stone moves into the ureter. Flank pain is not a matter of concern, if you are experiencing it temporarily. You need to get medical attention if the pain is severe or consistent and associated with other symptoms like nausea/vomiting, dizziness, fever and blood discharge in urine.
Flank Pain Causes :
Several factors can cause flank pain and some of them are discussed here.
In addition, flank pain can be caused by dehydration (loss of water balance), spinal arthritis, spinal fracture, disc degeneration, shingles, and pinched nerve in your back, pancreatitis, pneumonia and inflammatory bowel disease.
1. Kidney Issues
Kidney disease, kidney infection and kidney stones can trigger flank pain. Normally excess of fluid and other toxic particles are filtered from the blood and excreted in the form of urine. But sometimes calcium particles get piled up forming a large mass which cannot be flushed out through urine. These particles can get accumulated in the organ causing excruciating pain in the pelvic region moving towards the groin.
Sometimes, calcium stones moves in the path of urinary tract and enters the ureter (small tube that transports urine) blocking normal output of urine. This condition can cause urinary infection and burning pain while passing urine. In rare cases urine can be of reddish brown color indicating bloody discharge. This is accompanied with other symptoms like abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
Bacteria and other micro-organisms can grow in large numbers in the kidney leading to infection. This can also cause flank pain.
2. Bladder Stone