7. Increased volume and frequency of urination
Patients with kidney stones might have an increased volume of urination. They often describe a constant need to go to the bathroom, and they usually eliminate a very small amount of urine, especially when there’s an obstruction in the urinary tract, and when there’s a coexisting infection worsening the symptoms. Sometimes the urgency to go to the bathroom is completely unexpected, and some elderly patients would even have incontinence.
Patients with prostate problems and those with existing incontinence usually experience more urinary symptoms compared to the rest, which is limited to pain symptoms, fever, and nausea. It is common to feel difficulty in passing urine when the kidney stones are blocking the way of the urethra, and when that happens, the feeling of a blockage is clear and very uncomfortable. When this happens, it is important to look for medical attention right away, especially in elderly patients who are more susceptible to experience complications caused by an abnormal accumulation of urine in the urinary bladder.
This symptom is not permanent unless there are infectious sequelae to the kidney stones. If that is to happen, doctors should readily address the problem, investigate whether or not there are. Other signs of infection include foul-smelling urine and cloudy urine, both indicating that there are bacteria and white blood cells in the urine and an active infection somewhere in the urinary tract.
Kidney stones are one of the most common problems a patient could report in the urinary system. They are a common cause of urinary infection, and one of the most prominent symptoms patients describe is an excruciating pain that does not improve after using over-the-counter drugs or any other therapy. In most cases, patients remain in the emergency room with supportive medication until the pain has improved and are encouraged to drink more water and use certain medications to dissolve the kidney stones. However, other cases might need an invasive approach, and there are surgeries to extract larger kidney stones that would not dissolve or may create extra problems along the way. Each case should be assessed by your doctor and it is important to follow his instructions to the letter, even if you stopped having symptoms and now feel better.
Read Also:
Kidney Infection Symptoms | 10 Warning Signs & Symptoms
10 Warning Signs & Symptoms of Kidney Infection You Should Not Ignore!
References
Türk, C., Petřík, A., Sarica, K., Seitz, C., Skolarikos, A., Straub, M., & Knoll, T. (2016). EAU guidelines on diagnosis and conservative management of urolithiasis. European urology, 69(3), 468-474.
Evan, A. P., Coe, F. L., Lingeman, J. E., Shao, Y., Sommer, A. J., Bledsoe, S. B., … & Worcester, E. M. (2007). Mechanism of formation of human calcium oxalate renal stones on Randall’s plaque. The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology, 290(10), 1315-1323.
Press, S. M., & Smith, A. D. (1995). Incidence of negative hematuria in patients with acute urinary lithiasis presenting to the emergency room with flank pain. Urology, 45(5), 753-757.
