Can My Kidney stone pass out without surgery?
No one likes to undergo a surgery for kidney stones and we all wait and hope for them to pass spontaneously with various means like medicines, water, citrus, alternate medicines etc. That’s human!
Common methods that can be used to help the stone to pass out naturally are
Drink plenty of water. Kidney stones need to be flushed out of the body so be sure to drink lots of water to keep them moving along. . Remember: hydration is key for both passing and preventing!
-Minimize coffee, alcohol, tea, and soda while passing a kidney stone as these can cause dehydration and make the pain worse
-Drink a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil. The lemon juice contains citrate that will help break up the stones, and the olive oil will help to flush the stones out of your body. Mix ¼ cup of both and then follow with water. Only drink fresh lemon juice and pure olive oil as additives like sugar or flavorings can worsen problems.
Drink this mixture every hour to cease kidney pain.
-Eat diuretic foods. Celery, brussels sprouts, cucumber, watermelon, and asparagus are great foods to help with passing kidney stones.
-Avoid sodas and sugary drinks as they are major culprits behind the causes of kidney stones. Sodas are filled with unhealthy chemicals, including high levels of processed bleached sugar, phosphoric acid, caffeine, and high fructose corn syrup. These ingredients are harmful to your body and especially harsh for your urinary system.The high fructose corn syrup which metabolizes into oxalate and increases excretion of uric acid and calcium. This combination encourages kidney stone formation at a higher rate than normal. Plus, the phosphoric acid in soda can create an acidic environment in your kidney tract, leading to more kidney stones. Diets high in sodium are also associated with this condition.
But there are situations when one should not wait long and get the stone removed because waiting too long can be disastrous! A blocked kidney by a stone starts getting some degree of irreversible damage as early as one month of blockage.
1. YOU HAVE ONLY ONE KIDNEY: by birth, due to a previously removed kidney or after a kidney transplant.
If the only functioning kidney is blocked by a stone in the kidney or ureter(tube of kidney draining urine into the bladder), then waiting too long can mean kidney failure.
2. BOTH KIDNEYS BLOCKED BY STONES: Toxins start getting accumulating in the blood stream causing uremia.
3. A FEVER WITH CHILLS: the pent up urine in the blocked kidney gets infected and leads to urine infection and sepsis. Blockage should be removed at the earliest. Sepsis can be life threatening!
4. AN ALREADY COMPROMISED KIDNEY: if your kidneys are already weak because of pre-existing disease like diabetes or blood pressure, then a further insult by a blocked kidney may mean need for a dialysis.
5. FAILURE OF WATCHFUL WAITING, MEDICINES,ALTERNATIVE THERAPY: if you have already tried these strategies and stone has not passed in one month, then it’s not a good idea to wait longer because some degree of kidney damage due to death of kidney cells(nephrons) starts happening.
Meet your urologist at the earliest!