Half a million people go to the emergency room to treat kidney stones. Here's what causes them, what the pain feels like, and how they're treated.

Kidney stones are common, impacting approximately one in five men and one in 10 women by the age of 70. Kidney stones are hard deposits of minerals and salts that form inside your kidneys.

Kidney stones—also known as renal calculi or nephrolithiasis—are hard deposits made of minerals that build up in your urinary tract and form in your kidneys.

The size of kidney stones is varied, ranging from grain-like, to a golf ball! While in some cases, kidney stones can cause pain, in most cases, it can remain asymptomatic, sometimes over years.

You can develop kidney stones for a variety of reasons, including eating certain diets or taking some medications. Researchers estimate that 6% to 11% of the U.S. population develop kidney stones ...

Kidney pain treatment depends on the root cause of your kidney pain. In some cases—like for a small, mild kidney stone—we may send you home with orders to rest, hydrate, and relax as the stone passes.

Kidney stones are formed when minerals from urine crystalize into a small stone or pebble-like mass. These stones can become lodged in the ureter, the tube connecting the kidney to the bladder.

In most cases, kidney stones pass on their own, but some individuals may require hospital treatment. Research from 2022 suggests that the recurrence rate of kidney stones ranges from 6.1% to 66.9%.

Over a median of 2.9 years, the rate of symptomatic or radiologic recurrence of kidney stones did not differ significantly between the hydrochlorothiazide and placebo groups: 59%, 56%, and 49% in ...

According to a 2021 study through the National Kidney Foundation, caffeine, whether in tea, soda, coffee, or alcohol, is protective and may decrease the risk of kidney stones.