The Top 5 Kidney Stone Remedies And How They Work
Kidney stones that are small enough can usually pass through the kidneys and are excreted as you urinate. You may feel some pain as the stones pass but they won’t cause any damage to the kidneys as they pass through.
Larger kidney stones would require medical treatment. The following kidney stone remedies would depend on the type of stone you have, the size of the stone, and where the stone is located. Listed below are the top 5 effective treatments for kidney stones.
- Medication. The first line of treatment for kidney stones is medication. These drugs are designed to control the size of the kidney stones and keep them from getting bigger. Sodium cellulose phosphate is prescribed to bind the calcium to the intestines and prevent any excess calcium from reaching the kidneys and forming more stones. Hydrochlorothiazide promotes calcium absorption into the bones and reduces the amount of calcium secreted by the kidneys. Thiola and Cuprimine reduce the amount of cystine in the urine which causes cystine stones.
- Surgery. Before the development of new treatments for kidney stones, surgery was the only option for patients with large kidney stones. Now, there are safer and less invasive techniques for treating kidney stones, but surgery may still be used under certain conditions. There are 3 conditions in which kidney stones can’t be removed safely by other methods and surgery is the only effective treatment: (1) kidney stones that are too large, (2) stones that damage kidney tissue and (3) stones that cause recurrent kidney infection.
- Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy. Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy or ESWL is the commonly used method in treating kidney stones. ESWL uses shock waves from outside the body to shatter or break larger kidney stones into smaller ones that can be passed out easily. Several treatments are needed to completely shatter the kidney stones. However, these treatments can be done on an outpatient basis and recovery time is relatively quick compared to surgery.
- Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy. For stones that are too large for ESWL or at a location that can’t be reached by the shock waves, percutaneous nephrolithotomy may be used. Percutaneous nephrolithotomy is a procedure where a surgeon makes a small incision on your back and creates a tunnel directly to the kidney. The surgeon then uses a device called a nephroscope to locate, break, and remove the kidney stones. The recovery time for percutaneous nephrolithotomy is longer than that of ESWL, but the advantage of this procedure over ESWL is all the kidney stones can be removed without having to pass them through the kidney.
- Ureteroscopic Stone Removal. In the process of passing a kidney stone, the stone may become trapped in the ureter, the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder. The trapped kidney stone can cause blockage that could damage the kidney, ureter and bladder. Ureteroscopic stone removal is used for kidney stones that are trapped in the ureter. The surgeon uses a fiber-optic device, an uteroscope, and inserts it into the urethra, goes through the bladder and enters the ureter. The uteroscope is used to locate, remove, and break any kidney stones that are in the ureter. This method is highly effective, but rarely used because of the potential damage to the ureter.
Additional drugs may be prescribed to control the symptoms of kidney stones and prevent complications. Pain medication and anti-nausea medication can help manage the symptoms. Urinary tract infections can cause kidney stones and the stones can also complicate the infection. Antibiotics are prescribed to treat the infection and prevent complications.
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Image courtesy of The National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse
