You never want to develop kidney stones. As one nurse put it – they are just as painful as giving birth, you just don’t get the happy ending…
So…we have different types of kidney stones:
- Calcium Oxalate Stones. The most common type – when calcium connects with oxalate in the urine which can occur with low fluid intake
- Calcium Phosphate Stones. Calcium phosphate kidney stones are caused by abnormalities in the urinary system
- Struvite Stones – caused by infection in the upper urinary tract
- Uric Acid Stones – due to a high purine diet
- Cystine Stones – rare but tend to run in families
Typical symptoms include:
- severe pain on either side of your lower back
- more vague pain or stomach ache that doesn’t go away
- blood in the urine
- nausea or vomiting
- fever and chills
- urine that smells bad or looks cloudy
So how do we eliminate the different types of kidney stones? Western medicine has some methods:
- Shockwave lithotripsy – noninvasive but less success then ureteroscopy
- Uteroscopy – more invasive but higher success rates
- Percutaneous nephrolithotomy or nephrolithotripsy – nephrolithotomy, the doctor removes the stone through the tube. In nephrolithotripsy, the doctor breaks the stone up and then removes the fragments of the stone through the tube
- Reflexology – the MD in the hospital told me that it was the largest kidney stone he had ever seen and wanted to operate immediately – instead i did reflexology – hurt like yeah that bad, but totally non invasive and worked like a charm
- Keeping hydrated is a way to help the stones move through the system – which means water, not soda or alcohol or drinks with sugar
- The citric acid in lemons and limes can attach to the calcium in the urine preventing calcium oxalates
- While leafy greens, real cocoa and are incredibly healthy, they are also high in oxalates and if you are inclined to create stones these foods should be avoided
- Apple cider vinegar is a great way to break down stones – 1 tablespoon in a glass of water 3 times a day – add lemon or lime juice – even better
- Increase magnesium intake
- Avoid salt
Here’s to no stones and no pain.
Dr Holly