Welcome to our Kidney Stones Website
This site will objectively explore and educate our readers about kidney stones, their causes, the various symptoms which you should be on the lookout for, and many unique kidney stone treatment options that are available to you, from the purely natural all the way down to invasive surgery.
Let’s first discuss what kidney stones are, because it’s not as simple as it might appear on the surface. Some of us may already know that kidney stones are blockages in the tubing which leads from the kidneys to the bladder, but many do not realize that there are several types of kidney stones.
Of the several types of stones, all are a formation of crystallized substances (minerals, acids) at least 2 to 3 millimeters in size, anything smaller than this size will automatically be passed out of the body through urination. This will give some of our readers hope because the fact is that the majority of kidney stones are passed out of the body naturally within 72 hours, however and unfortunately that does not mean that there will be no pain during that period.
Kidney stones are formed from five known substances — calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, struvite, uric acid, and lastly cystine. The overwhelming majority of kidney stones suffers will have calcium oxalate or calcium phosphate stones (in the 75 to 80 percent range). Struvite kidney stones are much rarer and are particularly associated with urinary tract infections. Uric acid stones and cystine stones are even rarer than struvite stones and are generally caused by metabolic abnormalities.
Kidney stones are sometimes referred to as renal calculi, which comes from the Latin meaning kidney pebbles. The kidney stone condition has been mentioned in ancient texts, so we know for certain that is not a modern phenomenon, in fact, kidney stones where found in a centuries old mummy; Napoleon Bonaparte was also a noted sufferer. Medically speaking, the condition of having kidney stones is called Nephrolithiasis in classic medical texts.
There are many ways to treat and prevent stones from forming, which we will explore in coming pages; however, at this point and very quickly we will discuss several symptoms of having this condition. The most common symptom will be waves of pain (muscular contractions) radiating from the lower back and groin for periods lasting approximately twenty to sixty minutes. Having pus or blood in the urine is another major symptom, and finally those of us who experience this condition will often feel nauseated and go through bouts of vomiting.
This concludes our brief overview and introduction, read on further to discover unique treatments and other vital information regarding kidney stones.