Urolithiasis is a disorder of the body (disease), in which stones are formed in the urinary organs - dense stony formations, fusions or accumulations of chemical residues: urates, carbonates, phosphates, sometimes xanthine, soaps, sulfur, etc.
Doctors call this disease urolithiasis, but sometimes the term “nephrolithiasis” is used as a synonym. Diseases, indeed, are similar in their course. However, nephrolithiasis is an urolithiasis of the kidneys, the treatment of which takes place according to a different scheme.
The appearance of stones is caused by various reasons. This may be a general malfunction in the body, for example, a decrease in immunity, pregnancy or a malfunction of some organ, or a change in the chemical composition of the produced secretion.
What to do if a diagnosis of urolithiasis is made? Treatment should be prescribed only by a doctor. It is he who will be able to determine the location of the stones, their chemical composition, the potential danger that they carry to the body. Home treatment methods are either ineffective or harmful. They can supplement medical treatment (if the doctor permits), but, in no case, completely replace it.
How is urolithiasis treated ? Treatment may be different, it completely depends on the characteristics of the patient's body.
Open surgery (abdominal surgery). This is a traditional but less used method. It is effective, but severely injures the body, requires a lot of time to recover, and threatens with some complications (for example, infection). Today it is offered only when the stones are very large, you can remove them only by cutting the tissue around them.
More popular today are gentle methods of treating a disease called urolithiasis. Treatment may be an endoscopic operation. The specialist makes an incision in the patient’s side, through which he removes stones using an endoscope. Sometimes an incision is not made, but stones are removed through the urethra, which is even more difficult than through an incision in the side. The operation is less traumatic, but can also be accompanied by complications and requires anesthesia.
The most modern method of distance lithotripsy. When a doctor makes a diagnosis of urolithiasis, treatment may consist in the effect of a shock wave on the body. Such a wave is formed in a special apparatus and is sent to the place where the stone is located. This method is outpatient, it does not require any incisions or hospitalization. It is somewhat painful, but effective. Only very large or too dense stones can not be destroyed. However, the professionalism of the doctor, his accuracy plays a big role in this method of treatment.
There is a therapeutic method for getting rid of stones. This is a dissolution with the help of medications: phytolysin, cystone and others. However, he also does not give one hundred percent results.
So what to choose when the doctor has determined that the patient has urolithiasis? Treatment by specialists or tips of homegrown healers, folk methods?
Of course, treatment by specialists. It is the doctor who can determine whether the patient is worried about inflammation of the liver, peritoneum, or urolithiasis. Treatment with folk remedies without a diagnosis can be fatal. Another thing is that, in addition to surgical intervention or therapeutic course of treatment, decoctions or infusions recognized in traditional medicine, but recommended by a doctor, can be used. Is it necessary to test dubious methods on oneself, taking on faith everything that is said by illiterate folk healers? Or, after all, trust highly qualified specialists?