Medical Questions » Kidneys and Bladder Questions » Question No. 547
| Question: | I have just experienced the most excruciating pain of a kidney stone. Why do they hurt so much? Mine was only 3 mm long! |
| Answer: | The kidneys sit in your loins at the side of your abdomen, just below the ribs. The urine from the kidney is collected into a relatively large chamber, which has a fine tube (the ureter) leading from it down the back of the abdomen to the bladder.
Everyone forms kidney stones, but most are less than a millimetre across and pass unnoticed.
If the stone is slightly larger than the diameter of the ureter, it will be forced down the tube by the pressure of urine behind it, but will scratch the inside of this long tube causing the excruciating pain that runs across the abdomen to the scrotum and penis. When the stone is at rest, only a dull ache is felt. Once it starts moving and scratching the tube, severe pain (described as far worse than childbirth) occurs.
Once the stone passes into the bladder, it easily passes out when you urinate with no further pain. If the stone gets stuck in the ureter, surgery or other procedures are necessary to remove it.
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