Kidney Pain Vs Back Pain: How To Differentiate
According to various data banks, the overall prevalence of low back pain was found to be 42% in India. Kidney problems too result in back pain which may be a little different from musculoskeletal back pain. In todays write up we will find out how to differentiate between the two.
Each person has got a pair of kidneys located posteriorly on the lower side of the abdomen. The kidney purifies blood for nutrients and discharges urine.
How to differentiate kidney pain from general backache:
Musculoskeletal back pain is usually felt around the lumbar region, it may pain while muscles are touched. However musculoskeletal back pain can be felt all through the back as well.
Musculoskeletal back pain due to disc or nerve impingement may radiate to buttocks, back of the thigh, laterally to leg and ankles too.
The musculoskeletal back pain is mostly coming and going, peaking after high-intensity work and better with rest. Pain here too is dull aching.
The musculoskeletal back pain is not very severe.
Diagnosis Of Kidney Stones
Many kidney stones are discovered by chance during examinations for other conditions. Urine and blood tests can help with finding out the cause of the stone. Further tests may include:
- ultrasound
- CT scans
- x-rays, including an intravenous pyelogram , where dye is injected into the bloodstream before the x-rays are taken.
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Find out how our highly trained staff here at New York Pain Care can help you return to your pain-free life by consulting with us today. Call us at or visit our website to book an appointment.
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Compression can help relieve hip flexor pain. Using an elastic bandage or heating pad on the infected area will also reduce the swelling. Hot showers and heat patches are also helpful for relieving tightness. Medications should not be taken for more than ten days, as they may lead to bleeding in the stomach. Likewise, people who have strained their hip flexor muscles should refrain from activity for ten to fourteen days.
Cold therapy can help reduce pain and inflammation. Ice packs can be applied for up to 15 minutes at a time, but heat can also be applied to relieve muscle tightness. You can also use moist heating pads or ice to help alleviate the pain. To reduce muscle tightness, hot showers are recommended. Anti-inflammatory medicines and over-the-counter medications can be effective for pain relief. It is essential to consult a medical professional if these remedies dont relieve your symptoms.
Home pain relievers can be an effective method of treatment. Acetaminophen and NSAIDs can be used as a temporary solution to help relieve pain and inflammation. However, if your symptoms do not improve, you should see your healthcare provider immediately. Although these measures are effective, they may not be enough. If you have sustained a severe injury to the hip flexors, you should seek professional help.
Conditions That Improve Or Worsen Back Pain
Another way that you can start to tell the difference between back pain and kidney pain is to figure out what solutions relieve your pain. When it comes to chronic back pain, especially nervous system pain, it can be incredibly difficult to find relief. Oftentimes, chronic nerve pain requires long-term alternative treatments, such as physical therapy, massages, and even acupuncture, to provide relief. Back pain also tends to feel worse when youre moving around.
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Complications Of Kidney Stones
Kidney stones can range in size from a grain of sand to that of a pearl or even larger. They can be smooth or jagged, and are usually yellow or brown. A large stone may get stuck in the urinary system. This can block the flow of urine and may cause strong pain.
Kidney stones can cause permanent kidney damage. Stones also increase the risk of urinary and kidney infection, which can result in germs spreading into the bloodstream.
What Can Be Mistaken For Kidney Stones
The most common kidney stone signs and symptoms are like many other conditions or diseases. As a result, these kidney stone symptoms are often misdiagnosed or mistaken as other illness.
Conditions that can be mistaken for kidney stones, sharing similar symptoms:
- Appendicitis or lower back pain
- Urinary tract infection
- Stomach flu or virus
The most prominent symptoms of kidney stones are severe abdominal or lower back pain. When patients visit the emergency room or their primary care doctor to discuss these symptoms, they can be mistaken as either appendicitis or general lower back pain. Appendicitis is inflammation of a patientâs appendix, located in the lower right side of the abdomen. Some symptoms of appendicitis include sharp abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and migration of the pain to different parts of the lower abdomen. This is very similar to the symptoms presented by patients with kidney stones.
Other symptoms associated with kidney stones can be mistaken for a urinary tract infection . Patients who have kidney stones may experience blood in the urine , foul-smelling urine, abdominal or pelvic pain, and frequent urination. Similarly, patients who have an active UTI will encounter lower abdominal pain, cloudy or bloody urine, and the persistent urge to urinate. Additionally, UTIâs are very common occurrences across the United States.
If you encounter any of these symptoms you should always consult with your physician so that you can be properly diagnosed.
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Treating Renal Colic And Pain Management
See your doctor if you have symptoms of renal colic or urinary stones. Your doctor can do tests to look for increased levels of substances that form stones in your blood or urine. A CT scan can look for stones in your kidneys and other urinary organs.
If you have a large stone, your doctor can do one of these procedures to remove it and relieve renal colic:
- Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy : This procedure uses shock waves aimed at your kidneys to break up the stones into very small pieces. You then pass the stone fragments in your urine.
- Ureteroscopy: Your doctor inserts a thin, lighted scope up through your urethra and bladder to remove the stone.
- Percutaneous nephrolithotomy: This procedure uses tiny instruments inserted through a small cut in your back to remove a stone. You will be asleep during this procedure.
In the short term, your doctor will give you medicines to relieve the pain of renal colic. Options include:
- nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen
- drugs to prevent muscle spasms
- opioid medicines
How Does Passing A Kidney Stone Feel
Small stones can pass without any symptoms at all, but larger stones can be a problem.
As long as the stone is in the kidney and not blocking the flow of urine, you probably wont feel it. Eventually, the stone leaves the kidney and enters the ureter on its way to the bladder.
The ureters are tiny, about 1/8 inch wide, so if a stone cant move through, its hard for urine to flow.
This can cause swelling and incredibly painful spasms . Youll feel a sharp, stabbing pain in your side or back, below the ribcage. Pain sometimes radiates to the groin and genitals.
You might find that the intensity of the pain changes as you change position and as the stone continues its journey through your urinary tract. Youll probably find it near impossible to lie still, tossing and turning in an effort to stop the pain. Pain can subside for several hours before returning.
- vomiting
- blood in the urine
The pain tends to ease up once the stone reaches the bladder. If the stone is small, or has broken into small pieces, you may not feel it as it flows from the bladder, through the urethra, and out with the urine.
Stones dont usually block the urethra, since its twice as wide as the ureters, but a larger stone can cause resurgence of pain.
It takes an average of 31 days to pass a small stone. Stones 4 millimeters or larger may take longer or require a medical procedure to assist.
- chills, fever
- imaging tests to check for additional stones or other problems
- 24-hour urine collection
- blood work
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A tight hip can be caused by a variety of reasons. Regardless of the cause, the best approach is tailored to your needs. However, there are certain guidelines to follow to help prevent or reduce stiff hips. A strong hip will help you move more easily and stay mobile. If you have tight hips, it is important to consult a medical professional. If you have chronic problems, you should visit a medical professional. They can prescribe you the right treatments and medications.
Overuse of hip flexors can cause injury to these muscles. Despite changes in the grading system and classifications, this system remains the most common method for diagnosing and treating hip flexor injuries. A grade I tear of a muscle is usually accompanied by minor swelling and tenderness. It will typically take two weeks for a patient to recover fully. This type of injury is treated with rest and ice.
Finding Relief From Kidney Stone Pain
Not all kidney stones require medical intervention. The smallest stones may pass without you even knowing, but medium-sized stones may cause pain thats often easy to manage with pain medication and drinking plenty of water.
Stones that are about 4mm or larger may need professional care, so they dont get lodged in your urinary tract and cause health complications. Our team offers a number of treatment options for larger stones, including extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and surgery.
Talk to our doctors to learn more about kidney stones and the treatment thats right for you. Call the office nearest you, book online, or send our team a message today.
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Is Stomach Bloating A Sign Of Kidney Failure
Is stomach bloating a sign of Kidney Failure? Not all Kidney Failure patients have bloated stomach, but once it occurs, stomach bloating may reveal some underlying problems. Is stomach bloated related to Renal Failure?
Stomach bloating, or big belly, makes some patients, both female and male, look like pregnant, so they hope to solve this problem as soon as possible. For general population, some of them also suffer the pain of swollen abdomen that is more likely to be attributed to unhealthy eating habits or lifestyle. Nevertheless, for Kidney Failure patients, the following conditions, in addition to diet or lifestyle problems, can also cause this symptom.
1. Swelling: When kidneys cant discharge extra fluid out of the body or keep protein from leaking into urine, fluid will retain in various organs or systems. The stomach is just one potential area easily involved in swelling or fluid retention.
2. Polycystic Kidney Disease: Kidney Failure is the terminal result of many chronic kidney diseases. PKD is one common type of kidney disease all over the world, and most of PKD patients finally have kidney failure, with the growth of kidney cysts. Also, abdomen enlargement is accompanied.
3. Simple kidney cysts: Elderly people or people on dialysis are at a high risk of simple kidney cysts. If kidney cyst is too big, it will oppress the surrounding tissues and organs. Finally, stomach may present bloating.
Hip Pain Associated With Stage 5 Kidney Failure
My husband is stage 5 kidney failure, not on dialysis yet but just started having hip pain last couples days. What causes it? And what to do now?
Hi, thanks for leaving us message and so sorry to hear your husband is suffering. Stage 5 kidney failure is the most serious kidney condition which may cause various discomforts. Pain problem is common among kidney failure patients and it may occur in many parts of patients body like lower back, abdomen and even hip. For your husband, he may experience hip pain due to the following several factors:
1. Kidney stone: Hip pain occurs when kidney stone stuck in kidney or ureter.
2. Kidney infection: Kidney infection is a common complication of stage 5 kidney failure. It not only worsen kidney condition and accelerate illness progression, but also cause hip pain.
3. Polycystic Kidney Disease: Polycystic Kidney Disease is one of the common causes of stage 5 kidney failure and also it is one of the most common cause for hip pain, flank pain, groin pain and lower back pain.
4. Rupture of cyst in kidney: In many cases, no treatment is needed for kidney cyst and what patients need to do is to keep a close eye on it. If kidney cyst enlarges over time and cause damage on surrounding kidney tissues, treatment will be needed. Large kidney cyst ruptures easily and this not only cause hip pain, but also blood in urine.
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How To Get Relief From Kidney Stone Pain
When pain does occur, it can be so severe that many patients have to go to the closest emergency room to seek immediate treatment. Often a single dose of pain medication given by an ER doctor is enough to alleviate the pain for a prolonged period of time, allowing the stone to pass, says Lieske.
While narcotic pain medications can be carefully given for this purpose, studies suggest that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs milder pain medications with fewer side effects can be as effective. A review of 36 clinical trials that compared NSAIDs with stronger pain medications for kidney stone pain relief found that NSAIDs were equivalent when it came to pain reduction and led to fewer side effects. 30977-6/fulltext rel=nofollow> 7)
Tamsulosin is also widely used to help relax the muscles of the ureter, increasing the chance of passing the stone and helping reduce symptoms of pain, Bechis notes. However, new evidence suggests this medication may not add as much benefit as previously thought, he adds. A study published in July 2015 in the Lancet found that tamsulosin didnt help stones pass. 60933-3/fulltext rel=nofollow> 8)
How long does kidney stone pain last? It depends on how long it takes to pass the stone.
What Are Dialysis And Hemodialysis
Dialysis cleanses the body of waste products in the body by use of filter systems. There are two types of dialysis, 1) hemodialysis and 2) peritoneal dialysis.
Hemodialysis uses a machine filter called a dialyzer or artificial kidney to remove excess water and salt, to balance the other electrolytes in the body, and to remove waste products of metabolism. Blood is removed from the body and flows through tubing into the machine, where it passes next to a filter membrane. A specialized chemical solution flows on the other side of the membrane. The dialysate is formulated to draw impurities from the blood through the filter membrane. Blood and dialysate never touch in the artificial kidney machine.
For this type of dialysis, access to the blood vessels needs to be surgically created so that large amounts of blood can flow into the machine and back to the body. Surgeons can build a fistula, a connection between a large artery and vein in the body, usually in the arm, that allows a large amount of blood to flow into the vein. This makes the vein swell or dilate, and its walls become thicker so that it can tolerate repeated needle sticks to attach tubing from the body to the machine. Since it takes many weeks or months for a fistula to mature enough to be used, significant planning is required if hemodialysis is to be considered as an option.
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Dietary Calcium And Kidney Stones
Only lower your calcium intake below that of a normal diet if instructed by your doctor. Decreased calcium intake is only necessary in some cases where absorption of calcium from the bowel is high.
A low-calcium diet has not been shown to be useful in preventing the recurrence of kidney stones and may worsen the problem of weak bones. People with calcium-containing stones may be at greater risk of developing weak bones and osteoporosis. Discuss this risk with your doctor.
What Causes Hydronephrosis
Hydronephrosis diagnosed in pregnancy is usually mild. It’s thought to be caused by an increase in the amount of urine your baby produces in the later stages of pregnancy.
In more severe cases, it may be caused by a blockage in the flow of urine from the kidneys to the bladder, backflow of urine from the bladder to the kidneys, or a blockage in the flow of urine out of the bladder.
In adults, hydronephrosis is commonly caused by:
Read more about the causes of hydronephrosis.
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How Is Kidney Pain Treated
Treatment of kidney pain depends on what condition is causing it. In order to pinpoint a cause, a number of tools are available to help your doctor make a diagnosis:
- Urinalysis: Checks for the presence of blood, excess white blood cells , proteins, and certain chemicals that are linked to various kidney disorders.
- Imaging tests:Ultrasound or a CT scan provides an image of the physical structure of the kidneys and urinary tract, sees if stones are present, and helps determine if blood flow is adequate.