Stones begin as mineral crystals in urine that clump and harden. Little stones frequently come out by themselves. Larger ones can lodge in the urinary tract and cause pain that comes in waves, usually in the side or lower back and sometimes down into the groin.
When a clinic visit is the faster route
Without those warning signs, a urology clinic is often a quicker path to a plan than an emergency room. On Johnson Ferry Road, scans, bloodwork, the plan and any procedure stay at one address.
Treatment
Two common routes: ESWL, where focused shock waves aimed through the skin fragment the stone, and ureteroscopy, where a slim scope travels up to the stone so it can be treated directly.
Prevention
Someone who has formed one stone is at real risk of forming another. Each stone has a cause worth finding, whether that is too little fluid, a salty or protein-heavy diet, low citrate, gout, diabetes, excess weight, an overactive parathyroid gland or earlier bowel surgery.
Marc Greenstein, DO and Herman Bagga, MD, FACS treat kidney stones at Sandy Springs. Advanced Urology also explains kidney stones.