Kidney stones are a collection of crystals that concentrate in the kidney and grow. The main symptom is severe pain in the kidney. Treatment will depend on the size, shape and location of the kidney stone.
What is a kidney stone?
A kidney stone is an accumulation of crystals that are concentrated in the kidney and that, normally, after a certain period of time, due to growth, increase in weight. And when they increase in weight, they break loose, go down the ureter and that is when they cause the famous nephritic colic.
Why do kidney stones form in the urinary tract?
Urinary tract stones can form for different reasons, but in general, the most frequent, is because a series of circumstances coincide, such as the patient drinking very little that day, it is hot and the urine is very concentrated because the patient is sweating, and all this causes the urine to be very concentrated. As the urine is so concentrated, a small crystal is deposited in the upper urinary tract, in the kidney, and from that moment a stone begins to grow around it.
Its formation is very similar to the cultivated pearls that introduce a small grain of sand inside the oyster and from this one the pearl is formed. The stones are formed in exactly the same way, concentrically in layers until their weight causes them to detach from the kidney or they fall and change their place in the kidney.
What are the most frequent symptoms?
The most frequent symptom is nephritic colic, which is a chronic pain in waves, it goes up and down but it is usually very intense. Many women who have suffered it say that it is worse than childbirth and it is a typical pain that goes from the kidney to the groin, if the calculus is lower it is fixed in men in the testicle and in women in the labia majora and it is an extraordinarily intense pain. In addition, nephritic colic can be complicated by other problems such as fever.
How are urinary tract stones treated?
Urinary tract stones are treated depending on their size. If we think that the size is small and can be expelled spontaneously, it is treated with medical treatment. If we think it is not expellable because of its size or location, it is treated with anything but surgery. They can be treated with extracorporeal lithotripsy, they can be treated with ureteroscopy, they can be treated with percutaneous nephrolithotomy, all depending on the size, shape and location, but never with classic open surgery for many years now.
How can kidney stone formation be prevented?
In general for the population, the best prevention is to drink plenty of fluids. Drinking 2 liters of liquids above all, mainly water, in winter and 3 liters in summer when we sweat more and urine is more concentrated, is the best prevention for lithiasis, much better and much more effective than any diet.