How big is a kidney stone?

The reason why people suffer from kidney stones is because of problems with their daily eating and living habits, which will increase the burden on the kidneys, so kidney stones will appear. Kidney stones can be treated by drinking plenty of water. Drinking more water can effectively expel toxins from the body and also take the stones out of the body. However, if the stones are too large, surgical treatment is required. So how big is a stone?

Drink plenty of water. Drinking water is very effective in preventing the recurrence of urinary stones. Drinking more water can increase urine volume (the daily urine volume should be maintained at 2000-3000ml), significantly reducing the saturation of urinary stone components (especially calcium oxalate). According to statistics, increasing urine volume by 50% can reduce the incidence of urinary stones by 86%. The peak of excretion is 3 hours after a meal, so it is even more important to maintain sufficient urine volume. Drink water before going to bed to make the relative density (specific gravity) of nighttime urine lower than 1.015.

In fact, in the influence of urinary stone formation, the oversaturation of urine plays a very important role; in contrast, drinking a lot of water has a much smaller effect on the reduction of inhibitor concentration. Itoh et al. believe that green tea can prevent the formation of calcium oxalate stones. Green tea contains 13% catechin, which has an antioxidant effect and can reduce the excretion of oxalic acid in urine and the formation of calcium oxalate precipitation. Green tea treatment can increase the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD).

The severity of 9MM stones is related to whether they cause hydronephrosis and changes in renal function. If there is no hydronephrosis and abnormal renal function, then this situation is not serious. However, if the two stones are not in one kidney, the 9MM stones can be treated with lithotripsy. However, if they are in one kidney, then they cannot be crushed.

The severity of kidney stones cannot be measured by size. Generally, we recommend that if there is obvious waist pain, active treatment is needed. Lithotripsy is a better choice. Your husband's current 9MM stone is not very large, but it still needs to be treated. In the long run, it may continue to grow. If a 3MM stone falls into the ureter, it may cause severe pain and kidney hydrops, which also requires lithotripsy.

It is recommended to actively treat with stone removal drugs to promote spontaneous excretion. Drink plenty of water and have regular checkups.