Kidney Stone Symptoms and When to See a Doctor
Are you experiencing severe pain in your lower back? Is there blood in your urine? Do you have difficulty urinating? You may have a kidney stone, a rock-like deposit created from high levels of minerals and other substances in the urine. (1,2) Kidney stones can form in one or both of your kidneys, organs that remove waste from the blood and excrete urine. (3)
While kidney stones have become increasingly common, with 1 in 11 people in the United States developing them, the important message is that they are treatable — and easily treated if caught early. (4) Untreated kidney stones that grow and cause complications, such as infection, fever, or blood in the urine, can be particularly dangerous.
Recognizing the symptoms associated with kidney stones is the first step to getting proper and timely care if and when you do have a stone.
Kidney stones can grow quietly within the kidney without causing any symptoms for months or even years, says John C. Lieske, MD, a consultant in the division of nephrology and hypertension at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. However, when a stone breaks loose, it can block the ureter (the small tube that drains urine from the kidney and transports it to the bladder) and start causing a lot of pain.
The pain can be so severe that many people end up in the emergency room (ER), says Dr. Lieske, with one study finding more than one million visits to the ER in a year because of kidney stones. (5)
Pain occurs because the stone is blocking the flow of urine, explains Daniel Marchalik, MD, a urologist and director of the kidney stone program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC. The backup of urine makes the kidney swell, causing discomfort. “The size of the stone isn’t always important,” he says. “Even small stones can become lodged in the ureter and cause a backup of urine and severe pain.”
As the stone travels through the urinary tract, pain can shift from either side of the lower back to the abdomen and the groin, says Dr. Marchalik. Sharp, stabbing pain that comes in waves is common.
“Some women say the pain is worse than childbirth,” adds Naim Maalouf, MD, an associate professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Overall, symptoms tend to be similar in men and women. However, men can sometimes experience pain radiating to the tip of their penis when the stone is low in the ureter, says Marchalik.
In addition to pain, kidney stones can cause other symptoms: (6,7,8)
At the time of a first kidney stone attack, people often aren’t sure what is going on and need to be seen by a doctor to make sure the symptoms aren’t the result of a more serious problem, such as appendicitis, says Lieske.
As a general rule, you need to seek medical attention if you experience any of the following symptoms:
If you can’t see your doctor that day, head to the ER.
“If stone pain and fever develop, go directly to the ER,” says Timothy F. Lesser, MD, a urologist at Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance, California. A kidney stone with a urinary tract infection (UTI) may cause sepsis and must be treated immediately. (9)
If urine is trapped behind a kidney stone that is blocking the ureter, the urine can become infected, says Seth K. Bechis, MD, a urologist at UC San Diego Health. This, in turn, can cause an infection of the kidney tissue or result in the infection spreading to the bloodstream, causing sepsis, he explains.
Additionally, over time stones can become infected and harbor bacteria, causing urinary tract infections, adds Dr. Bechis. Some people who have a history of recurrent UTIs are found to have a large stone that continuously sheds bacteria into the urine. When doctors suspect that someone has a kidney stone with a UTI, they place a tube in the ureter or kidney to drain the backed up, infected urine, says Bechis. In addition, antibiotics are given to treat infection. (10)
While men are more prone to kidney stones than women, women are more likely to get UTIs, says Lieske. “So it’s not surprising that women are also more likely to get a urinary infection associated with their kidney stones,” he says.
While infection with kidney stones is a medical emergency, some people with a history of kidney stones may not always need to see a doctor, says Lieske. After an initial consultation with their physician, people who recognize their symptoms may be able to have pain medication on hand, so they can try passing the stone at home, he explains. Your doctor will likely have you drink plenty of water to help flush the stone out of your urinary tract.
Whether to use this approach “really depends on how severe the pain is and how comfortable people are with this strategy,” says Lieske. “Anecdotally, it seems that patients may have less severe pain the more kidney stone attacks they have had over the years, although this is certainly not universally true.”
Ibuprofen (Advil) can help with kidney stone pain, while a drug called tamsulosin (Flomax) may help relieve discomfort and enable you to pass the stone, notes Marchalik.
Fortunately, doctors can help you make prevention plans so you can avoid repeatedly developing stones.
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