What Causes Kidney Stones and Can They Be Treated at Home?

What is a kidney stone and why do they hurt so much?

A kidney stone, or renal lithiasis, is a nasty little jagged mass of minerals, acid salts and calcium. Many people get them simply because they don't drink enough water!

I have a friend who has suffered all his life from them. Mr. Macho Man has played soccer all his life and started suffering the classic symptoms at an early age. He never drank water when he was out playing in the hot sun, now he gets them all the time, even though he has learned to keep hydrated. About time too, he's 52 years old!

Another friend never drank water; he was always drinking caffeinated drinks and sodas, now he gets them. It seems that many people once they've had them, they keep getting them. They are both strong men but found that the pain be excruciating.

The kidney are filters and deal with the elimination of waste from our bodies, if they don't have enough water passing through them, these mineral deposits gets stuck in the kidney and cause horrible pain and discomfort.

A passing stone travels from the kidney and all the way through the urinary tract, and typically you will get a sharp stabbing pain beneath the ribs to begin with, if the stone moves - and feel lucky if it does - it will case pain as it travels all the way until it is finally passed out of the body. It is doing damage the whole length of its trip and a passing kidney stone may often cause blood in the urine as it machetes its way along.

Kidney Stone Symptoms for Men

A man is far more at risk than a woman to get ting a stone, perhaps because they tend to drink less water than women. The main causes in men are genetics and the fact that men normally have more muscle mass than women. The breakdown of the muscle mass means the body has to eliminate more waste and the male urinary tract is far more complicated in men than women, so the stone has a much more convoluted passage to travel before it can get out of the male body. Anything that has damaged the penile tract, including catheterization, some medications, or trauma and any other disease that affects the bladder can also lead to the build up crystals and mineral deposits in the bladder.

Kidney Stone Symptoms in Women

Women are much less likely to get kidney stones than men but kidney stone pain can be just as excruciating. Kidney stones may also cause vomiting, back pain, painful and frequent urination, fever, nausea, sweating, constipation or diarrhea and a feeling of fatigue.

All caused by something often the size of a half a grain of rice!

Now that you know the answer to "what is a kidney stone", you can move on and get help getting rid of yours and learning how to avoid them in the future!

To discover a natural remedy for kidney stones, visit http://www.get-rid-of.net/how-to-get-rid-of-kidney-stones-at-home.html!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alameda_K._Hartfeldt