After visiting a urologist, many people ask: "The doctor found a kidney stone of 5 mm, what should I do?" Currently, urolithiasis is a very common phenomenon, and can occur not only in adults, but also in children. Stones are formed due to improper lifestyle, therefore, preventive measures should be taken to prevent this condition.
But what if the formation of stones has already taken place? They themselves will not be able to resolve, and a running disease can lead to dangerous complications, up to renal failure.
Why can stones form?
Often such a pathology occurs due to lack of water. An insufficient amount of drunk fluid can lead to dehydration, which contributes to the formation of kidney stones. You should also focus on the climate, as in hot regions the amount of drinking water per day must be increased.
Kidney disease after a while becomes chronic. It can be cystitis and pyelonephritis. Also, quite often stones form due to congenital pathologies of the kidneys. For example, salts in this organ after some time are formed into calculi, especially for urate salts. In addition, the formation of stones occurs due to too much calcium in the body, as well as with gout.
A pathological condition is often caused by malnutrition. You should limit the use of foods containing calcium, as well as remove fatty foods, animal proteins and a large amount of salt from the diet.
Sedentary work leads to the formation of kidney stones . This is explained by the fact that if a person has been in one position for a long time, stagnation occurs in the pelvis, provoking the occurrence of urolithiasis.
Sizes of stones
What size kidney stones can form? It may be one, but often there are several stones. Their sizes can be different - from 1 mm to 10 cm. Some stones can exist in the body for a long time, practically not showing themselves, while others in a fairly short time can grow to giant sizes and fill the cups in the kidney and the entire pelvis.
Symptoms
If there is a stone in the kidney 5 mm, what to do and how it can manifest itself? Ways to combat this calculus will be considered later, but its symptoms appear as follows:
- blood and sand in the urine;
- dirty urine color.
A person constantly wants to use the toilet, and when urinating, severe and cutting pain occurs. The body temperature rises, nausea and vomiting appear, the abdomen and lower back begin to hurt, the patient is thrown into the cold, then into the heat.
How to get rid of stones?
If there are kidney stones 5 mm, how to remove these calculi? There are several ways you can do this. Below are listed the most popular methods of getting rid of this ailment.
Removing kidney stones with tablets
If the kidney stone is 5 mm, what should I do? Modern methods of treatment most often include non-surgical methods for removing stones, for example, tablets. If kidney stones have formed, treatment with pills (stone-breaking drugs will be picked up by a doctor) is a very effective way to get rid of them. To dissolve the phosphate stones, the extract of "madder dye" is used, but only in tablets. Their side effect is reddening of urine and do not be scared.
Antispasmodics such as No-shpa, Baralgin, Spazmalgon and others help the removal of calculi from the kidneys, and quite quickly. To this end, phytopreparations and various diuretic preparations, for example, Urolesan and Fitolit, are also prescribed.
Asparkam and Blemaren tablets help fight kidney stones. The last drug is white effervescent tablets that help urinate alkalize. Another effective way to get rid of kidney stones is Cyston.
But you should know that if the patient has kidney stones, treatment with pills, (stone-breaking medications are not recommended to be selected on their own), it is necessary to carry out only after visiting a doctor who should prescribe them.
Crushing stones
This is another effective non-surgical treatment. How to crush kidney stones? For this purpose, laser or ultrasonic crushing is carried out. The method is chosen only by the attending physician, focusing on the size of the stones and their number.
Use of ultrasound
Ultrasonic crushing of stones is a modern and very functional way. With its help, usually the largest and hardest calculi are crushed. Ultrasonic waves destroy the stone into smaller fragments, so there is a risk that an exacerbation of the inflammatory disease of the kidney occurs due to splinters entering the pelvis, renal calyces, and the lower part of the ureter.
Crushing stones in the kidneys is carried out if they are 1-2 cm in size.This procedure is carried out only in a hospital, because there is a high probability of complications and, thanks to resuscitation equipment, you can save a person’s life if there is bleeding from the urinary tract.
The essence of the procedure is that after establishing the exact location of the stones, an ultrasonic sensor is installed above them . High-intensity rays begin to affect within 10-15 minutes, and a nephroscope inserted into the kidney area removes small fragments of stone. A few days after the procedure, it is necessary to conduct an x-ray examination, in which a contrast agent is injected into the radial vein. It begins to fill the renal pelvis system, so that the picture clearly shows whether there are any stones in the kidneys.
Laser crushing
More recently, a method such as laser crushing of kidney stones has appeared. Its essence lies in the fact that stones are exposed to a beam of light. To do this, an endoscope is inserted into the ureter and urinary canal, and when it is placed near the stone, a laser is turned on. Due to the action of a thin beam of concentrated light, water begins to evaporate from the formation, while the surrounding tissues are not damaged. The laser does not penetrate deeper than 0.5 mm. The greatest effect is achieved if the stones have a size of not more than 1 cm in diameter.
What if the kidney stone is large?
A large kidney stone is removed through a small incision made in the back. They resort to this method if it is not possible to crush it in other ways. The patient recovers after this in one to two days.
How to remove stones in a conservative way?
If the kidney stone is 5 mm, what should I do? Drinking fluids helps dilute urine concentrations and reduces the number of crystallization nuclei in urine. So that kidney stones do not grow, you need to drink at least 1.5 liters of water every day. Due to kidney disease, the amount of toxins in the blood serum begins to increase. When drinking water, toxic substances can dissolve.
To get rid of kidney stones, you need to drink purified water, as well as drinks from cranberries or cranberries. Compotes from dried fruits and apples also cope well with calculi, but nevertheless are inferior in effectiveness to cranberry drinks.
Drinking a large amount of fluid helps the stones to independently exit through the urinary tract, but only if their size is not more than 6 mm. If they are greater than this value, then only surgical intervention is required to extract them.
Proper nutrition
Everyone knows that the growth of kidney stones causes an unhealthy diet, therefore it is best to adhere to a therapeutic diet that will help lower the high level of acids in the body, provide good urodynamics, and restore the acidity of urine to soften calculi.
In addition, you must:
- drink 8-10 glasses of water every day;
- refuse heavy fatty foods;
- limit salt intake;
- with excess body weight, bring the weight back to normal with the help of physical activity and proper nutrition;
- give up alcohol;
- take decoctions of diuretic herbs.
Stone formation prevention
If the kidney stone is 5 mm, what should I do? In this case, only treatment will help. In order to prevent the formation of kidney stones, it is necessary to implement preventive measures:
- it is advisable to adhere to a special diet;
- drink plenty of water every day;
- to do physical exercises;
- regularly undergo preventive examinations with the necessary tests;
- timely treat inflammatory and infectious diseases, especially the genitourinary system;
- to control chronic diseases;
- to refuse from bad habits;
- do not supercool;
- in case of any complaints, consult a doctor in a timely manner.
Output
Thus, if kidney stones form, you should not be upset. There are many non-surgical ways to get rid of them, including folk remedies. But in no case should you self-medicate, since moving a stone along the urinary tract without the doctor’s control can lead to serious complications. It is necessary to be treated only in a hospital setting.