Kidney stones can occur to anyone, irrespective of age and gender. Nowadays even children are found to have kidney stones. It is reported that 12 out of every 100 men and 7 out of every 100 women are diagnosed with kidney stones in the USA. Kidney stones has become common problem worldwide affecting millions of people.
Whether Kidney Stones Formation Is A Matter Of Concern ?
Stones are nothing but hard deposits of salts and minerals and can form in any part of the body. Often it targets the kidneys wherein leftover minerals and salts present in the urine gets concentrated forming a crystal which would then join together to form a stone. Passing urine becomes painful act and a person with kidney stones would pass reduced volume of urine.
There are many kinds of kidney stones like uric acid stones, calcium stones, magnesium ammonium stones and mixed stones.
Uric Acid Stones :
Uric acid stones may contain cystine stones, calcium stones and struvite stones. Few particles of calcium and other minerals fuse to form hard mass or stone. Uric acid is a type of acid present normally in the urine and when there is high concentration of acidity in the urine it can lead to formation of uric acid stones.
Uric acid stones can form in the kidneys or urinary tract (a small tube that carries urine from the kidneys and sends it to urethra). Formation of these stones can be acute (short lived) or chronic (continuous) problem. Kidney stone is known as renal calculus in medical terms and when few crystals or stones can accumulate to form a big mass blocking the urine passage. Presence of kidney stones is known as nephrolithiasis. Often small sized uric acid stones are discharged through urine and only some of them get crystallized to form a stone.
Size :
Uric acid stone can be of any size ranging from very small to large ones. Stones that are lesser than 2-4mm in size would get expelled through urine but those which are bigger than 5mm in size can obstruct the path of urine. Very large sized stones like 7-9mm can cause complications requiring treatment.
Symptoms Of Kidney Stones :
Not all the kidney stones would cause symptoms since they go unnoticed in urine. At some point uric acid stones get accumulated and moves within the kidney and slowly travels into the ureter tubing. Only then you will notice some of the below mentioned symptoms.
- Mild to moderate pain at your back and in the sides
- Sudden severe pain that proceeds towards the right lower abdomen region
- Pain can be felt in the form of waves or ripples and intensity of pain may differ
- Urine color can change from normalcy to red or brown
- Burning pain while passing urine
- Urine would be foul smelling
- Some people may feel like vomiting
- Sudden urge to pass urine
- Increased number of visits to toilet
- Passing lesser amounts of urine than normal
- Fever may develop if the person develops urinary infection
Kidney Stones Causes :