- How the treatment is done
- 1. Medicines
- 2. Surgery
- 3. Laser treatment
- 4. Natural treatment
- To learn more about the kidney stone diet watch this video:
For the treatment of kidney stones, you should consult a nephrologist and follow his instructions on the remedies that should be taken and the best clinical treatment to follow. However, when the symptoms of kidney stones manifest, it is not advisable to drink a lot of water, as this can make the stone move and increase the pain even more. This orientation of drinking lots of fluids must be followed out of crises, to avoid the appearance and growth of the stone, facilitating its elimination. Here's what to do to not have kidney stones.
The kidney stone crisis, which is very painful and involves pain in the back, groin and even blood in the urine, can be treated with surgery to remove the stone or less invasive techniques such as laser or shocks, which serve to decrease the stones and facilitate their elimination in the urine. Find out what are the main causes of kidney stones.
How the treatment is done
The treatment for kidney stone is determined by the nephrologist according to the characteristics of the stone and the degree of pain described by the person, and it may be recommended to take pain medications that facilitate the removal of the stone or, if not enough, surgery to remove the stone. stone.
The main treatments for kidney stones are:
1. Medicines
Medicines are usually indicated by the doctor when the person is in crisis, that is, with intense and constant pain. Medicines can be administered orally or directly into the vein, where relief is quickest. See what to do in a kidney crisis.
Thus, the nephrologist may indicate anti-inflammatory drugs, such as Diclofenac and Ibuprofen, analgesics, such as Paracetamol, or anti-spasmodics, such as Buscopam. In addition, the doctor may indicate that the person uses drugs that promote the elimination of stones, such as Allopurinol, for example.
2. Surgery
Surgery is indicated if the kidney stone is large, greater than 6 mm, or if it is blocking the passage of urine. In this case the doctor can decide between the following techniques:
- Extracorporeal lithotripsy: causes the kidney stones to fragment through shock waves, until they turn to dust and are eliminated by urine; Percutaneous nephrolithotomy: uses a small laser device to reduce the size of the kidney stone; Ureteroscopy: uses a laser device to break kidney stones when they are located in the ureter or renal pelvis.
The length of hospital stay will vary depending on the person's condition, if he has no complications after 3 days he can go home. Learn more about kidney stone surgery.
3. Laser treatment
Laser treatment for kidney stones, called flexible ureterolithotripsy, aims to fragment and remove kidney stones and is done from the urethral orifice. This procedure is indicated when the stone is not eliminated even with the use of medicines that facilitate its exit.
Ureterolithotripsy is done under general anesthesia, lasts about 1 hour and, because no cuts or incisions are necessary, recovery is quick, with the patient being released normally 24 hours after the procedure. At the end of this surgical procedure, a double J catheter is placed, in which one end is in the bladder and the other inside the kidney and aims to facilitate the exit of stones that are still present and prevent obstruction of the ureter as well as facilitate the healing process of the ureter, if the stone has damaged this canal.
It is normal that after ureterolithotripsy and placement of the double J catheter, the person will have an external probe in the first hours after the procedure to drain the urine.
4. Natural treatment
The natural treatment for kidney stones can be done between attacks when there is no pain and involves drinking 3 to 4 liters of water a day to help eliminate small stones. In addition, if there is a history in the kidney stone family, it is important to eat a low protein and salt diet because this can prevent new stones from appearing or small stones from increasing in size.
In addition, a good homemade option for small kidney stones is stone-breaking tea because in addition to having a diuretic action and facilitating the elimination of urine, it relaxes the ureters by facilitating the exit of the stones. To make the tea, just add 20 g of dry stone-breaking leaves for every 1 cup of boiling water. Let stand, and then drink when it is warm, several times during the day. See another home remedy option for kidney stone.
To learn more about the kidney stone diet watch this video:
To check if the kidney stones are being eliminated and if there is no formation of new stones it is important to have tests, which are indicated by the nephrologist, such as computed tomography, x-ray, blood test and urine test, in which they can small crystals in the urine can be seen under a microscope if there are kidney stones.