Kidney Stones and Their Symptoms
What are kidney stones?
Kidney stones are hard collections of salt and minerals often made up of calcium or uric acid. They form inside the kidney and can travel to other parts of the urinary tract.
Stones vary in size. Some are as small as the period at the end of this sentence — a fraction of an inch. Others can grow to be a few inches across. Some kidney stones can become so large they take up the entire kidney.
A kidney stone forms when too much of certain minerals in your body accumulate in your urine. When you aren’t well-hydrated, your urine becomes more concentrated with higher levels of certain minerals. When mineral levels are higher, it’s more likely that a kidney stone will form.
Stones are more common in men. In the United States, around 11 percent of men and 6 percent of womenTrusted Source will develop kidney stones at least once during their lifetime.
Kidney stones are also more common in people who have diabetes or obesity. Kidney stones can also be caused by a genetic condition called cystinuria.
Smaller kidney stones that remain in the kidney often don’t cause any symptoms. You might not notice anything is amiss until the stone moves into your ureter — the tube that urine travels through to get from your kidney to your bladder.
If the stone is small enough, it’ll continue from your bladder to your urethra and exit your body through your urine. The smaller the stone, the more likely it’s to pass on its own, and the more quickly the process will happen.
Most stones that pass naturally will take 31 to 45 days. If a stone hasn’t passed within this timeframe, it’s important to get medical attention, as the stone could increase the risk of kidney damage and other complications.
A doctor may advise you to drink a lot of water to help with this process. They may also have you strain your urine in order to catch the stone. Analyzing the stone can help determine the underlying cause.
Kidney stones are typically very painful. Most stones will pass on their own without treatment. But you may need a procedure to break up or remove stones that don’t pass.
What are the symptoms of a kidney stone?
If you have a very small kidney stone, you may not have any symptoms as the stone passes through your urinary tract. But if your kidney stone is larger, you’ll likely have some symptoms.
Outlined below are 8 signs and symptoms of kidney stones.
- Pain in the back, belly, or side
Kidney stone pain — also known as renal colic — is one of the most severe Trusted Source types of pain imaginable. Some people who’ve experienced kidney stones compare the pain to childbirth or getting stabbed with a knife.
The pain is intense enough to account for more than half a million visits to emergency rooms each year.
Usually, the pain starts when a stone moves into the narrow ureter. This causes a blockage, which causes pressure to build up in the kidney. The pressure activates nerve fibers that transmit pain signals to the brain.
Kidney stone pain often starts suddenly. As the stone moves, the pain changes location and intensity.
Pain often comes and goes in waves, which is made worse by the ureter contracting as it tries to push the stone out. Each wave may last for a few minutes, disappear, and then come back again.
You’ll typically feel the pain along your side and back, below your ribs. It may radiate to your belly and groin area as the stone moves down through your urinary tract.
Large stones can be more painful than small ones, but the severity of the pain doesn’t necessarily relate to the size of the stone. Even a little stone can be painful as it moves or causes a blockage.
- Pain or burning during urination
Once the stone reaches the junction between your ureter and bladder, you’ll start to feel pain when you urinate. Your doctor might call this dysuria.
The pain can feel sharp or burning. If you don’t know you have a kidney stone, you might mistake it for a UTI. Sometimes you can have an infection along with the stone.
- Urgent need to go
Needing to go to the bathroom more urgently or frequently than usual is another sign that the stone has moved into the lower part of your urinary tract.
You may find yourself running to the bathroom or needing to go constantly throughout the day and night.
Urinary urgency can also mimic a UTI symptom.
- Blood in the urine
Blood in the urine is a common symptomTrusted Source in people with kidney stones. This symptom is also called hematuria.
The blood can be red, pink, or brown. Sometimes the blood cells are too small to see without a microscope (called microscopic hematuria), but your doctor can test your urine to see if it contains blood.
- Cloudy or smelly urine
Healthy urine is clear and doesn’t have a strong odor. Cloudy or foul-smelling urine could be a sign of an infection in your kidneys or another part of your urinary tract.
One 2021 study found that about 16 percentTrusted Source of people with acute kidney stones had a UTI.
Cloudiness is a sign of pus in the urine, or pyuria. The smell can come from the bacteria that cause UTIs. An odor may also come from urine that’s more concentrated than usual.
A UTI with a kidney stone is considered a surgical emergency — with or without a fever.
- Going a small amount at a time
Large kidney stones sometimes get stuck in a ureter. This blockage can slow or stop the flow of urine.
If you have a blockage, you may only urinate a little bit each time you go. Urine flow that stops entirely is a medical emergency.
- Nausea and vomiting
It’s common for people with kidney stones to have nausea and vomiting.
These symptoms happen because of shared nerve connections between the kidneys and the GI tract. Stones in the kidneys can trigger nerves in the GI tract, setting off an upset stomach.
Nausea and vomiting can also be your body’s way of responding to intense pain.
- Fever and chills
Fever and chills are signs of an infection in your kidney or another part of your urinary tract. This can be a serious complication of a kidney stone. It can also be a sign of other serious problems besides kidney stones. Any fever with pain requires urgent medical attention.
Fevers that occur with an infection are usually high — 100.4˚F (38˚C) or more. Chills or shivering often occur along with the fever.
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