Of all the sudden health issues to experience, one that people dread the most is passing a kidney stone. Kidney stones develop for a lot of reasons, and some contributing causes could be dehydration, medication usage, and poor diet.
When you have kidney stones that your body is trying to pass, you’re in for a painful experience. Your doctor will likely walk you through a few different treatments that could make the experience safer or better.
If your kidney stones are small, your doctor may recommend that you simply let them pass under medical observation.
This way, you won’t have to worry about anything besides the pain (which can be treated with medications). If the stones get blocked as they exit the body, your doctor can treat the issue with surgery.
Surgical treatments for kidney stones focus on removing the stones manually. Sometimes, they can use shockwave lithotripsy to break up the stones to allow them to pass easier. Other times, they may have to insert a ureteroscope into your urethra and take them out via ureteroscopy or perform a percutaneous nephrolithotomy keyhole surgery to extra large stones from one or both kidneys.
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