What are the symptoms of kidney stones?
The hallmark is severe pain in the back or side that comes in waves and radiates toward the groin, usually with nausea and often blood in the urine. Fever or chills alongside that pain is a different problem: it suggests an infected, blocked kidney, which needs emergency care right away. Bellaire ER confirms kidney stones with on-site CT, the standard test, 24/7.
What a Kidney Stone Feels Like
The classic symptom is severe pain in the flank: the side and back, just below the ribs, that comes in waves rather than staying steady. As the stone moves down the ureter toward the bladder, the pain shifts and radiates into the lower abdomen and groin. People describe it as among the worst pain they have experienced.
One detail is characteristic enough to be worth knowing: restlessness. Someone with stone pain tends to pace and shift position constantly because no position helps. That is the opposite of most abdominal emergencies, where people hold still because movement makes it worse.
Nausea and vomiting usually travel with the pain. Once the stone nears the bladder, you may also get burning with urination, a constant urge to go, or passing only small amounts at a time.
What You May See in Your Urine
Blood in the urine is common: urine that looks pink, red, or brown, caused by the stone irritating the lining of the urinary tract. Sometimes it is visible, and sometimes it only shows up on a urine test.
Cloudy or foul-smelling urine is a different signal. It suggests infection has developed alongside the stone, and that combination raises the urgency considerably.
The Symptom That Changes Everything
Stone pain alone is usually not life-threatening, however severe it feels. Fever and chills with stone symptoms is.
A stone that blocks the kidney while infection builds up behind it is a genuine emergency. The pressure prevents the infection from draining, and it can progress to sepsis. It often needs urgent drainage, which is a hospital procedure. If you have stone symptoms and a fever, do not wait to see whether the pain settles.
Two other symptoms carry the same weight: being unable to urinate at all, and severe pain when you have only one working kidney.
Symptoms Often Mistaken for a Stone
Several conditions produce severe one-sided pain, and a few of them are more dangerous than a stone. This is the real reason a first episode gets imaged rather than assumed:
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm: a leak from the main artery in the abdomen causes sudden severe flank, back, or abdominal pain and is mistaken for a first kidney stone often enough to be a recognized trap. A first episode of stone-like pain after about age 50, particularly in a smoker or someone with high blood pressure, is imaged rather than assumed.
- Kidney infection (pyelonephritis), flank pain with fever and chills, but the pain is steadier than stone pain rather than coming in waves.
- Gallbladder disease: severe pain higher up and more toward the front, often after a fatty meal, sometimes radiating to the right shoulder blade, with clear urine.
- Appendicitis: an appendix sitting behind the colon can produce right flank pain, and can even put blood and white cells in the urine. The pain builds steadily and worsens with movement.
- Ovarian cyst, ovarian torsion, or ectopic pregnancy: sudden severe one-sided pelvic pain in anyone who could be pregnant needs evaluation the same day.
For a complete guide, see our kidney stones page. Bellaire ER is open 24/7 at 5302 Bellaire Blvd with on-site CT, ultrasound and a full lab to identify what is actually behind your pain. Walk in any time, or call (713) 660-0001.