Patients of a nephrologist know well what renal colic is and how this pain can be relieved. And what to do if discomfort in the lumbar region appeared for the first time? How to identify kidney pain from others? And what tests should be done to get an accurate diagnosis? What are the dangers of advanced diseases of the urinary system? You will find answers to all these questions in this article.
Possible causes of lower back discomfort
Pain in the lower back can occur for various reasons. It can be provoked by gynecological diseases, intervertebral hernia, problems with the gastrointestinal tract, appendicitis, chronic cholecystitis, diseases of the sciatic nerve. How to determine that the problem is in the kidneys? After all, the treatment in all these cases will be fundamentally different.
In case of gynecological diseases, physiotherapy, heavy drinking, hot baths are contraindicated. Paroxysmal pain that occurs sharply and painfully, with a high degree of probability may beappendicitis. In this case, you need to urgently call an ambulance.
How to distinguish kidney pain from discomfort in other organs?
The first thing you should pay attention to is the color of urine and the pain of its discharge. If the kidneys hurt, then in most cases the process of urination is complicated. Cramps and discomfort are an eloquent sign that there are disturbances in the functioning of the urinary system. If the kidneys are very sore, treatment should take place in a hospital.
Here are the main symptoms that speak eloquently of the failure of urological dynamics and the inflammatory process:
- increased urination;
- urine passes in small portions every 15-20 minutes;
- temperature rises to forty degrees, and the patient becomes delirious;
- sometimes, on the contrary, there is rare and profuse painless urination;
- turbidity of urine and the appearance of an epithelium in it - cotton-like sediment;
- blood or pus in urine;
- swelling of the face and limbs.
How and where do kidneys hurt?
Renal colic is severe, sudden, sometimes paroxysmal pain in the left or right side of the lower back.
Sometimes pain can radiate to the abdomen or intercostal region. Doctors often confuse these symptoms with intercostal neuralgia or diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Only tests will help to build a reliable picture and find out what is actually causing the discomfort.
Most often, severe colic accompanies the process of discharge of sand or stones duringurolithiasis. Patients themselves can provoke the discharge of sand with heavy drinking or diuretics. The movement of stones and small stones along the ureter can also cause sharp pain in the very bottom of the abdomen, almost in the groin area. With such symptoms, it is urgent to call the medical team, as a blockage or rupture of the ureter may occur.
Renal colic is also characteristic of the acute stage of pyelonephritis or glomerulonephritis. In this case, the patient begins to have a strong fever up to forty degrees, vomiting and diarrhea may open. This condition requires urgent antibiotic therapy and cannot be cured at home.
First aid at home
It is urgent to call an ambulance for the following symptoms in a patient:
- renal colic that does not subside for more than an hour;
- temperature above 39 degrees, fever, delirium;
- mild or completely absent urination;
- blood and pus in urine;
- vomiting with all of the above symptoms.
While you are waiting for an ambulance, you can try to give the patient first aid.
In no case do not put a heating pad and other warming compresses in the lumbar region and abdomen of the patient. If the stones pass, then heat will provoke their passage, and in some cases this will lead to rupture of the ureter and internal bleeding.
If the patient has a fever, open the window,let the room be ventilated and the air temperature will be about 18 degrees. Bacteria multiply faster in warm weather. In extreme cases, you can give a Paracetamol tablet, but it's better to wait for the ambulance, the doctors will give the patient a lytic injection. It will reduce the temperature in half an hour to 37 degrees.
Until you know the exact diagnosis, you should not self-medicate. Diuretics, herbs and anti-inflammatory drugs should be taken only after the appointment of a nephrologist. If the kidneys hurt, the symptoms are unfavorable (pain, cloudy urine, high temperature), call an ambulance.
Types of pain and diseases that provoke them
Discomfort varies in time and intensity. Many patients complain that the kidneys hurt. Symptoms and treatment will vary from case to case.
Urolithiasis Symptoms:
- Sharp, penetrating pain that suddenly comes in fits.
- There is blood in the urine.
- Severely hurts the right kidney (sometimes the left - depending on the location of the stones).
- Nausea and lack of appetite.
- Frequent urge and low urine output.
When pyelonephritis is characterized by aching, constant dull pain. In the urine - epithelium, sediment. It has a cloudy dark color and an unpleasant odor. The patient is characterized by severe swelling of the limbs and face, fever, fever.
Such a symptom as pain in the kidneys and in the abdomen at the same time, is characteristic of hydronephrosis. This disease is also accompanied by chills, high fever. Maybeappear aching pain in the joints and muscles.
Diagnosis of kidney disease
Today, in a hospital, it is possible to find out exactly what the patient is suffering from in a day.
- Laboratory tests. Biochemical analysis of blood: an increase in the level of creatinine and urea will show kidney dysfunction. A general blood test will tell you how far the inflammatory process has gone. Leukocyturia, an increase in the level of bacteria indicate an infectious process. Urinalysis according to Nechiporenko: protein and leukocytes indicate glomerulonephritis or pyelonephritis. Problems with bilirubin in the tests - a disorder with the liver.
- The Zimnitsky test will check the efficiency of the urinary system and exclude kidney failure.
- Ultrasound (ultrasound) is a modern and safe method for diagnosing kidneys. The doctor will be able to see the presence of cysts and tumors, echogenicity, the structure and exact dimensions of the organs, the state of the pelvicalyceal system. Ultrasound checks not only the kidneys, but also the bladder, adrenal glands, ureters.
- Excretory urography is a method of X-ray examination. A contrast fluid is injected intravenously. With its help, problem areas with inflammation, seals, tumors, cysts are highlighted in the picture. It is most often prescribed to check the patency and the presence of an obstruction to the flow of urine in the ureter. It also allows you to determine the structure of stones and sand.
- Computed tomography and MRI are painless and modern methods of kidney diagnostics. Used to clarify the diagnosis when the urologist doubtsappropriateness of the applied therapy.
- Kidney biopsy - sampling of biomaterial (most often done in the presence of tumors) to identify its malignant nature. It is performed for an accurate diagnosis and the choice of subsequent treatment. If your kidneys hurt after a biopsy, contact your doctor immediately.
Treatment with folk methods
How useful is the treatment of kidney disease at home? If this is possible, then only after an accurate diagnosis has been made. If it is chronic pyelonephritis, loose sand or stones, mild inflammation, then treatment at home with herbal infusions and warming up the lumbar region is quite acceptable.
If your kidneys hurt, try these simple traditional medicine recipes:
- Rosehip tea. This plant has excellent diuretic, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Rosehip is brewed like regular tea. It should be drunk twice a day in a glass, warm and slightly sweetened.
- Make your own or buy kidney tea at the pharmacy. This is a collection of special herbs - staminate orthosiphon, chamomile, yarrow. Regular drinking of this drink will serve as the best prevention of urethritis and cystitis.
- Millet to cleanse the kidneys: take 200 g of cereal and pour a liter of boiling water. The resulting cloudy infusion is taken half a cup half an hour before meals three times a day. Be careful with this method: if there are stones, they can come off and go to the exit.
- Flaxseed decoction has antibacterialproperties and is good for chronic pyelonephritis during exacerbations.
Urolithiasis (kidney pain): how to treat?
Most of the cases of emergency calls due to lower back pain happen precisely because of the passage of stones. This is an acute condition and requires urgent medical attention.
If the left kidney (and in some cases the right one) hurts, the nature of the sensations is sharp and unbearable, then this is most likely a stone has passed. It moves along the urinary tract, causing acute pain. The outflow of urine in this case either completely stops or is partial.
If there is a suspicion of a stone leaving, urgently call an ambulance, hospitalization is necessary. It is unacceptable to treat such a condition at home! Internal bleeding may open, this threatens the patient with a fatal outcome. In some cases, surgery is necessary, sometimes the case does without it. After the release of stones and sand, a nephrologist should be observed to exclude complications in the form of glomerulonephritis and pyelonephritis. Every patient with suspected urolithiasis should undergo the necessary examinations and tests.
Pyelonephritis: what is dangerous and what are the symptoms?
In an acute course, it is dangerous for the development of chronic renal failure (kidney dysfunction). That is why it is important to contact a nephrologist in time. With this disease, the tubules and pelvis of the kidney, as well as the parenchyma of the organ, are damaged. The chronic course of pyelonephritis can last for years and manifest itself as follows:symptoms:
- fever;
- cloudy urine;
- nausea;
- vomit;
- swelling of limbs;
- lack of appetite.
How do the kidneys hurt? Symptoms in women (with pyelonephritis) are somewhat different from those in men. In particular, female anatomical features contribute to the spread of the infectious process in the genitourinary organs.
Kidney failure
The most formidable complication of any diseases of the urinary system. Kidney failure is a dysfunction of the kidneys, in which they are unable to perform their tasks. The main diagnostic criterion is the off-scale indicators of creatinine and urea in a biochemical blood test.
Kidney failure is an incurable disease. Patients need a kidney transplant or lifelong hemodialysis. Take care of your he alth in a timely manner and do not let the condition of the kidneys and bladder take its course!
In order to prevent such a serious complication as kidney failure, it is necessary to visit a nephrologist or urologist at the slightest discomfort (symptoms of a sore kidney), regularly take blood and urine tests to detect pathologies in the early stages.
Diet for kidney disease
For the prevention and remission of any diseases of the kidneys and bladder is very important diet. Some foods will have to be eliminated from your diet once and for all.
Basic principles of medicalnutrition if the kidneys hurt (table number 7):
- Exclude pickles, canned food, spicy snacks. Eat only homemade food, in the preparation of which a minimum of s alt was used and there are no hot spices, flavor enhancers. If the disease is in an acute stage, doctors recommend almost completely giving up s alt in food for a couple of weeks.
- Fatty meat - lamb, pork, beef - undesirable diet.
- Cakes with fat cream, puff and yeast dough to exclude. Sweets are not forbidden on the diet, but they should be chosen with a minimum fat content. Even better, make your own moderately sweet, s alt-free oatmeal cookies.
- It is necessary to reduce the intake of protein of any origin. It overloads the work of the kidneys. During an exacerbation of the disease, reduce the amount of protein in the diet to 30 g per day.
- Fast food (hamburgers, pizza, smoothies, french fries) should be completely excluded from the diet due to the high content of flavor enhancers, s alt and fat.
- You can eat porridge in any quantity - buckwheat, oatmeal, pearl barley, semolina. As a sweetener, feel free to use sugar, jam. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a bowl of porridge to meet your he althy fat needs.
- Steamed vegetables can be eaten without restrictions.
- From drinks, give preference to compotes on dried fruits, skim milk. Do not lean on kefir and fermented baked milk - they are rich in proteins. Carbonated drinks and alcoholic cocktails are banned forever - they harm not only the kidneys, but also the body as a whole.
