How pain from kidney stones usually feels
The classic pattern is a sharp, cramping pain in the side or back that comes in waves, sometimes moving toward the groin as a stone travels. Nausea, blood in the urine, and a restless need to change position are common companions. Some stones announce themselves with a milder ache or with blood a lab finds first. If you are in Sandy Springs, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, or intown east Atlanta and this sounds like what woke you up, we want you to know when to come to Johnson Ferry Road or Irvin Way, and when to go straight to emergency care.
When to go to the emergency department, and when to call us
Go to an emergency department or call 911 if the pain is so strong no position helps, if you cannot pass urine, if you have a fever with stone symptoms, or if you are shaking and feel seriously unwell. A fever with obstruction is urgent. For pain you can plan around, or for a stone already seen on a scan at an emergency department that now needs follow-up, call 678-344-8900. We will tell you the earliest opening we can offer at our Sandy Springs Clinic & Surgery Center, 1450 S Johnson Ferry Road, or at our Decatur Clinic, 2711 Irvin Way. We will not promise a particular day on this page. When you call, we will tell you the earliest opening we can offer, and we will be direct about it.
What we do after you arrive
We listen to the pattern of the pain, check a urine sample, and review any scan you already have. When imaging is still needed, we explain the study before it is scheduled. Some stones can be watched with medicine that may help them pass, and with a plan for what to do if the pain returns. When a stone needs to be treated, the procedures we already offer include shock-wave lithotripsy, which uses sound waves to break a stone, and ureteroscopy, a thin scope that can reach the stone and remove or break it. A temporary stent is sometimes part of that plan, and we will tell you why if we recommend one.
Many of those procedures are done at the Sandy Springs surgery center in the same building as the clinic. After a Decatur consult, we schedule the procedure at Sandy Springs or at the Snellville surgery center and your chart goes with you.
A prevention visit after the pain has settled
Someone who has formed one stone is at real risk of forming another. Once the urgent problem is handled, we like to talk about fluid intake, the stone's makeup when we have it, and whether a metabolic workup would help. That conversation can happen at either office. Our longer kidney stones page goes into evaluation, treatment, and prevention in more detail.
Herman Bagga, MD, FACS, and Marc Greenstein, DO, treat kidney stones at the Sandy Springs clinic, with physician assistants on the team. At Decatur, the official office page lists physician assistants, who work inside the same practice chart.
Vahan Kassabian, MDUrologist; Director of Prostate Center 
Herman Bagga, MD, FACSUrologic surgeon 
Marc Greenstein, DOUrological surgeon; Director, Surgery Center Sandy Springs
A kidney stone video from Dr. Greenstein
Dr. Marc Greenstein, who practices at our Sandy Springs clinic, recorded this official talk on kidney stones. It is useful background before a visit on Johnson Ferry Road or Irvin Way, and we will still examine you and look at your own scan in the room.
Questions people ask when kidney stones start to hurt
Can I wait and see if the stone will pass?
Sometimes, yes, when the pain is controlled, there is no fever, and the stone's size and location make a trial of passage reasonable. That is a decision we make with you after we have seen you and looked at the imaging, not a choice this page can make for you.
Do I have to go to the emergency department for every spell of pain?
No. Emergency care is for pain you cannot control, a fever, or the inability to urinate. If a spell eases and you can plan a visit, call us and we will look at the next opening at Sandy Springs or Decatur.
Will I need a stent?
Not every stone procedure includes a stent. When we recommend one, we will explain why it is there, how long it is likely to stay, and what symptoms are expected until it comes out.
Is shock-wave lithotripsy something you do here?
Yes. Shock-wave lithotripsy is one of the treatments we already offer, along with ureteroscopy. The visit is where we say which of those, if either, fits the stone we are looking at.
What should I bring if I was already seen in an emergency department?
Bring the discharge papers, the imaging report, and the disc if you were given one, plus a photo ID, insurance information if you carry it, and your medicine list. We would rather not repeat a scan that already answers the question.
Can I start at Decatur if I live in east Atlanta?
Yes. People in downtown Decatur, Oakhurst, and along the east side of I-285 often begin at 2711 Irvin Way. If a procedure is later recommended, we will tell you where it will be scheduled.
Read more on Advanced Urology's kidney stones page, and on our own pages about blood in the urine and kidney stone care in Sandy Springs.
What the video covers
On this Sandy Springs page the official video we link is titled Dr. Greenstein on Kidney Stones. This Sandy Springs summary stays with that public title and does not add other claims.