Feeling like your stomach is geting drilled

Diseases | September 22, 2010 | Share

Have you been coming across too many people with kidney stones? Don’t be surprised because you could probably be in the process of getting kidney stones yourself. Statistics show that more than 3 million people are affected by kidney stones every year. Kidney stones being one of the most common urologic disorder is also one of the most painful disorders which leads to extreme pain around the abdomen and the lower stomach.

For those who don’t know what kidney stones are, they are basically developed from crystals which separate from urine and get deposited over a period of time to form hard masses of crystallized stone. It is caused when the urine is unable to eliminate such crystals as they normally contain chemicals which automatically eradicates the crystals, but in some cases fail to do so. Most of the times the crystals are so small that they pass out of the urinary tract while urinating, but in some cases fail to do so.

Most people relate kidney stones to bad food eating habits though it has also been found that more than 70% of the people with kidney stones suffer the same due to hereditary reasons. Even though food hardly has anything to do with stone formation, excessive amounts of animal fat, protein and salt can also lead to formation of stones. Food such as beetroot, dark leafy vegetables, spinach, strawberries, raspberries, excessive meat products, draft beer, butter, peanut oil, excessive tea, sugar products etc should be avoided.

You can start having more fibrous food, vegetables, grains and definitely increase your water intake. You would easily get to know when you have kidney stones when your urinary tract gets blocked or you have blood coming along with urine as the stones try to pass out of the tract thereby damaging the walls. You should immediately consult a doctor in such cases as stones can majorly damage your kidney which acts as a filtration system for blood. Sometimes all this is accompanied by nausea, vomiting, back pain and pain around the groin area.

Archeologists once made a discovery where a mummy was found with kidney stones which proves that this problem dates back to centuries though we are the fortunate lot who now have ways to treat kidneys stones. Even though it is advised to drink gallons of water and take rest to ensure that one doesn’t go through too much pain, but it is still advised to get a test done which would determine the exact condition of the stones and the necessary treatments. In case of severe pain and enlarged stones, doctors usually suggest a surgery or laser therapy which is usually painless and hardly takes any time.

Even though kidney stones are extremely painful and can gravely damage your kidneys, diagnosing and treating them at the right time can save you a lot of long term trouble and help you live a stone free life.

Akul