Kidney Stones Diagnosis and Recognition
If you don't have any obvious symptoms of kidney stones, the only way to diagnose them may be certain medical tests. There are various tests, such as an analysis of urine, that can alert your doctor to the presence of kidney stones. Some people try to determine whether or not they have kidney stones by purchasing pH urine tests on their own, but this isn't always reliable, as various conditions can alter your pH. The most reliable way to know for sure if you have kidney stones is for your doctor to take a radiograph (x-ray) of the region. It's always best to have your condition diagnosed rather than making assumptions based on guesswork.
There are some specific types of kidney stones that are typically present during a kidney infection which can bring on symptoms like fever or chills. This usually occurs with Struvite stones, which are caused by bacteria. A common variety of stones in the kidney are typically calcium. If you have a urinary infection that leads to kidney stones, it's important to treat the infection, which is often done with antibiotics. Symptoms like nausea and fever can be easily treated by prescription or in many cases over the counter pain relievers. One symptoms of this sort of kidney stone can be fever and/or chills or both although many other types of kidney stones may not include this symptom.
In some cases, kidney stones may be experienced as a dull pain in the lower back. As many people suffer from back problems for a variety of reasons, this type of symptom may go unnoticed for a while. The type of back pain associated with kidney stones is, however, a little different from other kinds. This type of back pain is usually long lasting but unconnected to exercising or moving in a certain way. While you can treat the pain with medication, you want to make sure you know what's causing it as well. When you have kidney stones, it's likely you'll also have other symptoms as well.
As such symptoms can mean any number of things, it's important to see your doctor for advice.
There are quite a few possible symptoms of kidney stones, though the above are some of the major ones. Some kidney stones are so small as to produce no symptoms at all, or only barely noticeable ones. Kidney stones that are large, however, can be a real problem and sometimes require medical procedures. It's often possible to prevent kidney stones from returning by making long term changes in how you eat, how much water you drink and the amount of exercise you get.
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