Kidney Stone Symptoms

Extreme pain, blood in your urine, nausea, and fever are all telltale signs of kidney stones.

By

Published on September 5, 2022

Kidney stones can form when you have high amounts of salt and other minerals in your urine which turn into crystals. These crystals grow into a stone, which can range in size from sand-like grains to small pebbles to a gravel-like chunks.¹

A variety of factors can lead to kidney stones—for instance, supplementing with vitamin C increases the risk of kidney stones for men.² Use of antibiotics may also play a role.³ The biggest factor: Not staying hydrated. Drink more liquids, and you'll dilute urine, reduce its acidity, and remove excess salt, three tactics that can help prevent stones from forming.⁴

Kidney stones are known for feeling tremendously painful when they pass. But that's not the only symptom—take a look at the most common signs of a kidney stone.

Common Signs & Symptoms

In some cases, small kidney stones may pass without pain.⁵ But if kidney stones block the flow of urine or get lodged in the ureters, narrow passageways where urine moves from the kidney to the bladder, they can cause an array of unpleasant side effects, including the following:

Pain

Kidney stone pain is often described as excruciating, matching or exceeding the pain that accompanies childbirth.

Of course, it's challenging to describe pain, which is subjective. But research backs that up: One small study asked women who'd been through childbirth to compare the pain of that experience with the pain of having a kidney stone blocking their urinary tract—a majority of the participants deemed the pain from a stone worse.⁶

As you can see, the pain level from kidney stones is very intense.⁷ It can feel like severe cramping or sharp pains. And it can occur in several locations, including your belly, side of your back, groin, and testicles or labia.⁸ The location of your pain can be an indicator of where the stone is located.⁹

Pain from kidney stones can have an episodic nature, severe in one moment, and abating in the next.

Blood in the Urine

If your urine departs from its usual yellow hue, and is instead pink, red, or brown, that indicates the presence of blood in your urine, and is one of the common symptoms associated with kidney stones.¹⁰

When there's blood in your urine, it's referred to as hematuria. Sometimes this blood is visible to the naked eye, and other times it's only visible with a microscope. Blood in the urine can indicate a number of conditions, so this symptom alone doesn't necessarily indicate stones are present.

Issues Urinating

There are an array of potential changes that may occur with your urination as a result of a kidney stone. First up: You may feel the need to go—a lot. Frequent urination is a common sign of a kidney stone. ¹¹

You may also find yourself unable to urinate. Or, it's possible you'll experience a burning pain sensation when you go.¹²

Finally, you may observe that your urine has a cloudy appearance—or, it may smell bad.¹³

Nausea and Vomiting

Pain can occur in your belly, but nausea and vomiting are the only other GI-type symptoms that accompany a kidney stone.¹⁴ That is, having diarrhea or being constipated would indicate that you might not have a kidney stone.

Fever

A fever—often accompanied by chills—is another potential symptom for kidney stones. It's also an indicator that you may have an urinary infection.¹⁵

When to See a Health Care Provider

Kidney stones are one of the most common reasons for visits to the emergency room.¹⁶

If your pain is not that severe, you might not feel like a trip is necessary, but if you do have the symptoms listed above, reach out to your health care provider. Along with your symptoms, imaging tests such as ultrasounds and X-rays can be used to diagnose kidney stones, along with blood and urine tests.¹⁷

Treatment options vary depending on the stone's size, makeup, and location, as well as your level of pain.¹⁸

Smaller stones can pass on their own. Your health care provider may recommend you take a painkiller and drink plenty of fluids, and wait for the stone to pass. Taking a medication known as alpha blockers can help slightly larger stone pass.¹⁹ Use a strainer while you urinate to catch the stone, so that your doctor can analyze its makeup.²⁰

When stones are very large, other methods are needed to remove them from your body, including using shock waves to break up the stone, ureteroscopy, or surgery.²¹

No matter what treatment you receive, followup is a good idea. After having a kidney stone, up to 50 percent of people will have another in the next decade.²² Your health care provider will follow up on your treatment for your first stone, as well as recommending strategies to minimize the likelihood of subsequent ones, which can include boosting your water intake and making dietary changes.

Article Sources

1. American Kidney Fund. Kidney Stones: Causes, Treatments, Symptoms and Prevention.

2. Ferraro, Pietro Manuel. Total, Dietary, and Supplemental Vitamin C Intake and Risk of Incident Kidney Stones American Journal of Kidney Diseases. 2016. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2015.09.005

3. Shivan, Joshi. The use of antibiotics and risk of kidney stones. Current Opinion in Nephrology and Hypertension. 2019. doi: 10.1097/MNH.0000000000000510.

4. Xu, Chang. Self-Fluid Management in Prevention of Kidney Stones: A PRISMA-Compliant Systematic Review and Dose–Response Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Medicine. 2015. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000001042

5. American Kidney Fund. Kidney Stones: Causes, Treatments, Symptoms and Prevention.

6. Miah, Saiful. Renal colic and childbirth pain: female experience versus male perception. Journal of Pain Research. 2017. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S135901

7. National Library of Medicine. Kidney Stones.

8. National Library of Medicine. Kidney Stones.

9. Portis, Andrew J. Diagnosis and Initial Management of Kidney Stones. American Family Physician. 2001.

10. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease. Symptoms & Causes of Kidney Stones.

11. The Official Foundation of the American Urological Association. Kidney Stones.

12. National Library of Medicine. Kidney Stones.

13. National Library of Medicine. Kidney Stones.

14. Portis, Andrew J. Diagnosis and Initial Management of Kidney Stones. American Family Physician. 2001.

15. National Library of Medicine. Kidney stones: Overview.