How to Deal With Passing a Kidney Stone

Your kidneys are the clean-up team of your body's organs. Sitting in your lower back, they filter the blood from your circulation system of excess water, excess nutrients and impurities. They mix these items together to create urine and send it to your bladder for storage. Sometimes, the impurities or excess nutrients the kidneys filter form solid concretions, called kidney stones. Kidney stones can cause infection and pain. They must be removed from the kidneys. The most noninvasive way to remove a kidney stone is to pass it. To pass a kidney stone with as little trouble as possible, there are steps you can follow.

Instructions

• 1

  Contact your health care provider. Kidney stones should be passed through your bladder and urethra in most cases. However, sometimes the kidney stones can be so large that passing them is impossible or unbearably painful. Your doctor will be able to x-ray or ultrasound your kidneys and tell you if your kidney stones are small enough to pass. If they are not, he may suggest breaking the stones up or removing them through surgical means. Only proceed if your doctor gives permission to proceed.

• 2

  Drink lots of purified water. Water is essential to passing kidney stones but tap water can contain bacteria and other impurities. While your immune system can handle these impurities normally, you should avoid them while you are suffering from kidney stones.

• 3

  Avoid foods that can aggravate your condition. Your kidneys remove any excess nutrients from your bloodstream. High levels of calcium, sugar and sodium can all aggravate kidney stones.

• 4

  Be prepared for pain. Passing a kidney stone can be a very painful process. Your doctor may suggest prescription painkillers or over-the-counter pain medicines like ibuprofen. If the pain becomes unbearable, contact your doctor. Your kidney stones may be larger than he first thought and require surgery.

• 5

  Collect your kidney stones and give them to your doctor so he can analyze them. Analyzing your kidney stones can give him some idea as to what is causing them. Whenever you urinate, do so through a urine strainer or a thin piece of cloth so you can catch the kidney stones. In the best-case scenarios, you will be able to urinate in a cup or a jar each time to avoid accidentally losing the stone.