| Posted August 21, 2014 | By Jennifer Santana, M.D. | Categorized under Men's Health, Women's Health |

Kidney stones are one of the more common ailments that develop inside the urinary tract and have the potential to cause severe pain. The good news is they are treatable and even very preventable.

What are kidney stones?

Kidney stones are tiny deposits that form as our urine is being made in the kidney. They're made up of minerals or salts that are normally dissolved in our urine. Kidney stones form when the concentration of these salts changes. This occurs when our urine becomes more saturated with these salts, which usually happens when the amount of fluid in our body decreases, either due to decrease intake of fluid or increase in the loss of fluid. The amount of fluid lost from our body can increase during periods of perspiration, diarrhea or vomiting. Therefore, when these salts are more concentrated in our urine, they form clumps and these clumps attach to one other creating a kidney stone.

How big are kidney stones?

Sometimes kidney stones are so tiny that you may not even notice them until you flush. Other times, kidney stones attach to one another creating a snowball effect that causes them to get stuck inside the urethra.

How do I know if I have a kidney stone?

If you feel severe pain in your back, it is possible you may have a kidney stone. Kidney stones that are at least 8 millimeters in diameter (the same width of your urethra) will scrape the sides of the urethra as they try to move through the urinary tract. This is extremely painful. If you suspect you have a kidney stone, it's recommended that you seek medical care in order to obtain an imaging test, such as a kidney ultrasound or CT scan, to determine if a kidney stone is present.

How are kidney stones removed?

If the stone is less than the size of your urethra (smaller than 8 millimeters), it may pass spontaneously. It is suggested that you urinate through a strainer to "catch" the stone, which can look like a peppercorn. Then, you can ask your doctor to send the stone to a lab for further analysis.

If the stone is at least the same size as your urethra (larger than 8 millimeters), doctors can use shock wave lithotripsy that sends sound waves through your back to break up the stone. The smaller pieces can then be passed naturally.

A more invasive method involves sending a tube with a tiny basket attached to it through the urethra to grab the stone and pull it out. If that doesn't work, the last-resort option will be to surgically remove the stone by creating a small hole in your back and grabbing the stone.

If I've already had a kidney stone, what are the chances another one will form?

At least 50 percent of people who had one stone will most likely have another. That's why lifestyle changes are so important if you don't want to experience another painful kidney stone.

How can I prevent kidney stones?

Drinking lots and lots of water is the best and easiest thing you can do to prevent kidney stones. Drinking more water will decrease the concentration of the salts in our urine that leads to kidney stones. If urine is diluted, the salts will not be so close to each other to create that snowball effect. How much extra water you need to drink is based on your lifestyle. However, if you have already developed a kidney stone in the past, a good rule of thumb is to drink enough water every day to make two liters of urine, which is equal to a gallon of milk. The amount of water you needed to drink to make two liters of urine in a day is what you should drink every day. Of course, be sure to add more water when it's hot outside.

In addition to increasing the amount of water intake, there are other measures to prevent kidney stones, which will vary depending on the type of kidney stone you have. There are several types of kidney stones and in order to determine what kind of stone a person forms, a stone must be retrieved and sent off to a special lab for analysis.

The easiest way to retrieve a stone is by straining your urine. Once the stone analysis determines the type of stone present, a prevention plan can be created specifically for that kind of kidney stone. For example, kidney stones made of Calcium Oxalate are the most common type of kidney stone, which can be prevented by decreasing the amount of sodium in our diet in addition to increasing our fluid intake. There are also certain medications that can prevent these types of kidney stones and some medications that can actually cause these types of kidney stones.