Kidney Stones

Do kidney stones come back? How can I prevent them? Unfortunately, kidney stones often have a tendency to come back. Many patients who have had one stone will develop another one within 5–10 years if no preventive steps are taken. To lower the risk: a) Fluid intake Aim to produce at least 2–2.5 litres of urine per day. In practice, this usually means drinking around 2.5–3 litres of fluid per day, more if you sweat a lot or live in a hot climate. Water should be the main drink

Do all kidney stones need treatment? No. Not all stones need immediate treatment. In general: Small stones that sit in the kidney, do not block the flow of urine and cause no symptoms can sometimes be safely monitored with regular scans. Stones that are large, growing, causing repeated pain, reducing kidney function, causing repeated infections or blocking urine flow usually need active treatment. The decision to treat or monitor depends on stone size, location, number of sto

What symptoms can kidney stones cause? Kidney stones sometimes cause no symptoms at all and are found by chance when you have a scan for another reason. When they do cause symptoms, common ones are: Sudden, severe pain in the side or back (often called renal colic) The pain may spread from the back towards the tummy, groin or, in men, towards the testicle. Blood in the urine (sometimes visible, sometimes only seen on a urine test) Needing to pass urine more often or burning w

What do the kidneys do? The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs that sit on either side of your spine, just under the ribs in your back. Their main jobs are: To filter waste products and extra fluid out of the blood To keep the balance of water and salts in the body To make some important hormones (for blood pressure and red blood cell production) The liquid produced by this filtering process is called urine. Urine travels from the kidneys through thin tubes called ureters, do