Kidney stone symptoms in men

Kidney stone is a solid formation that forms in the kidneys and urinary tract with crystallization of substances in the urine. From different sources of information one of twenty people gets kidney stones. Most exposed are white males between 40 and 70 years of age.

If more than one stone is present in our body, there is a high probability that more stones will be generated. Symptoms and signs depend on the size, position and possible infection. Stones can grow up to few centimeters, small ones are also known as kidney gravel. Stones smaller than 5 mm can be eliminated by urination without any complications.

Basic signs that tell us about the presence of kidney stones in our body are: vomiting, severe sudden pain in kidney area, nausea, blood in the urine, burning and frequent urination and fever. If stones are too large to be moved from kidneys into the ureter than there might be no signs at all or slight pain when a small fragment comes off and urine takes it down the ureter.

The most common symptom of kidney stones, which can cause problems, is stabbing pain that comes in waves, often in intervals of a few minutes. Such pain is called colic and men are more exposed to it because of physical efforts and changes in body position. Kidney pain of this kind, which can appear when a kidney stone passes down through the ureter, is over as soon as the stone stops or eliminates by urine. The pain is almost always one-sided, although it may be followed by attack if we have stones in both kidneys. Kidney pain is first felt in the back, just below the ribs on either side of the spine. After several hours or days, we feel pain of the stones path around the ureter further down toward the groin. We may feel nausea and blood appears in the urine. After stone reaches the bladder, further way through urinary tract is painless.

Most kidney stones remain free of injury in kidneys, or ultimately get eliminated. But there can be stones trapped in the ureter and close the outflow of urine on one side. In this case operation is required. Kidney stones can cause higher probability for infection in urine. At the long term problems, chronically weakening in the kidneys may occur from repeated infections and sometimes scars because of the large stones.

If you are prone to problems due to kidney stones, medical examinations are necessary every 6 months to prevent serious damage to the kidneys. In case of kidney colic attack, doctor sends you to analyses that reveal where the stone in urinary tract is and whether further treatment is necessary. Best thing to do at this kind of attack is to call the doctor, and drink as much water as you can - at least 3 liters per day because this helps to push the stone further through the urinary tract. You can also take some painkillers such as soluble aspirin.
There are no pleasant treatments for kidney stones which are not eliminated from the body by themselves. If we are prone to this disease, doctor can prescribe us a medication, which may in some cases prevent the formation of stones. If stone is blocking the lower part of ureter, it is sometimes possible to remove it with a smaller or more extensive surgery in which we need about 10 days to recover in the hospital. It can also happen that due to failure of the kidneys, one kidney is removed, but this happens very rare.

To conclude, the best treatment is always prevention. What you need to do is:

• drink a sufficient quantity of water
  
• don't drink fluids that cause dehydration (coffee, coke, alcohol)
  
• keep your diet healthy
  

If you follow these tips it is highly likely that these problems will never occur.