Filtering out waste and other materials is vital to keeping your body healthy, and this is why your kidneys are essential. These two organs sit on both sides of your body, under your ribs and behind your belly. Together they process around 200 quarts of fluid a day, filtering toxins from your bloodstream and sending them out of your body via your urinary system.
Sadly, kidney disease is common, and kidney stones (also called nephrolithiasis, urolithiasis, or renal calculi) are hard deposits of minerals that develop for several reasons. While kidney stones can be treated when they occur, they can also be avoided.
If you live in the Pompano Beach, Fort Lauderdale, or South Florida area and are struggling with the symptoms of kidney stones or want to know how to avoid them, Drs. Craig Herman and Steven Kester and the staff at the Urology Center of Florida can help.
Kidney stones often develop in the kidneys, which is where they get their name. But these crystalline deposits can form anywhere in your urinary tract. There are five different types of stones: calcium, struvite, cystine, uric acid, and staghorn. They can appear in different shapes and sizes, and, while some may pass without you noticing them, some are large enough that they can’t leave your body on their own.
Kidney stones are very common — about 10% of the population will get one at some point. Many people will have multiple stones in their lifetime, with calcium stones the most common type.
People ages 20-50 are most likely to develop kidney stones. A variety of factors can increase your risks; these include obesity; dehydration; diets high in sodium, glucose, or protein; having an inflammatory bowel disease with calcium absorption issues; and some medications. Having gastric bypass surgery or a parathyroid condition can also increase your risk of kidney stones.
Some people won’t experience symptoms when passing kidney stones, but it’s more likely that you will have pain, nausea, vomiting, hematuria (blood in your urine), discolored urine, foul smelling urine, fever, chills, a strong urge to urinate, and problems doing so.
There are a number of ways to avoid getting kidney stones, even if you’ve had them before:
Make sure you drink plenty of water to flush your system and replenish it after intense physical activity. Drink as much as 80 ounces a day to maintain healthy levels.
Lots of meats are high in purine, which has a lot of uric acid in it. To help lower the amount in your system, reduce the amount of beef, pork, poultry, and fish in your diet.
Carefully examine the labels of the food you buy, and if they have high amounts of sodium chloride, sodium nitrate, and monosodium glutamate (or MSG), avoid them.
To balance the foods you're giving up, add healthier options, like citrus fruits, grapes, melons, cauliflower, cucumber, bananas, dairy products, and peas.
Kidney stones can be unpleasant and can happen repeatedly if you don’t make changes to prevent them. For other ways to reduce your likelihood of developing kidney stones, or for help with other urinary problems, call or message the Urology Center of Florida today for an appointment.
