Kidney stones are hard mineral deposits that occur inside your kidneys. If they pass through your urinary tract, they can cause intense pain. Therefore if you are diagnosed with kidney stones, you need to keep an eye on them. You do not know when they get blocked in your ureters, causing backflow of urine- an emergency condition.
Most people become prone to kidney stones. So if you have had them once, you need to try your best to prevent them in the future. Kidney stones can also lead to urinary tract infections that can become serious.
You should not take the symptoms of a kidney stone lightly as they may cause severe pain if they get obstructed in the urinary tract. A combination of medications and lifestyle changes can help you in preventing kidney stones. If you have a complaint of recurrent kidney stones, you can visit a urologist in Lahore.
In this article, we will explore some helpful strategies to prevent kidney stones. Keep reading to learn more.
Table of Contents
What Are The Symptoms of Kidney Stones?
Small-sized kidney stones mostly pass on their own in the urine and do not show any such symptoms. But large ones can show the symptoms, such as:
- Pain and burning while passing urine
- Blood in urine
- Sharp pain in the back or abdomen
- Difficulty passing urine
- Nausea and vomiting
Kidney Stone Preventions
To prevent kidney stones, you can implement the following tips:
1. Drink Plenty Of Water
To prevent kidney stones the most essential thing is to drink plenty of water. You should drink at least eight to twelve glasses of water a day to prevent them. When you drink lots and lots of water, the salts that build stones do not accumulate. With water, your kidney flushes them out.
If you can not drink plain water, you can add a flavor to it by adding lemon juice. The color of your urine can indicate whether you are drinking plenty of water or not. When you drink lots of water, the color of your urine becomes light yellow to white. Whereas when you do not drink enough water, your body will excrete concentrated dark yellow colored urine.
2. Do Not Reduce Calcium Intake
Most stones are made up of calcium oxalate. Therefore many people tend to stop consuming calcium. However, this practice is wrong. You must consume calcium-containing foods and supplements because they can help prevent kidney stones. When you stop consuming enough calcium in your diet, it can lead to kidney stone buildup and increase the risk of osteoporosis.
3. Consume Less Sodium
According to experts, consuming too much sodium in your diet can increase the risk of developing kidney stones. It happens because too much sodium in the urine can prevent the reabsorption of calcium from the urine to the bloodstream.
Eating a diet low in sodium can help prevent kidney stones. The less sodium you consume, the more the risk of developing stones lowers. You can get high amounts of salt through preserved and canned foods. Therefore you should avoid them.
4. Limit Oxalates
Some kidney stones are made up of oxalate ions. It is a natural compound that binds with calcium to form kidney stones. Therefore you need to limit the intake of oxalate-containing foods. You can get oxalate through foods, such as:
- Spinach
- Chocolate
- Rhubarb
- Soy products
- Wheat bran
- Sweet potatoes
- Coffee
- Beets
- Peanuts
To consume oxalate, you can combine them with calcium so that they form salts in the digestive tract.
Conclusion
Kidney stones can cause excruciating pain. Therefore you should not take them lightly. If you have a complaint of recurrent kidney stones, you should visit a urologist as soon as possible. For more advice, you can visit oladoc.com.
