Kidney and Urinary Stone Overview

One in every 10 people will be inflicted by a kidney stone during their lifetime.  Dr. daniel Oberlin focuses on both prevention of kidney stones as well as minimally-invasive outpatient treatment of kidney stones.  If you’re in the Greater san francisco area and need your pain checked out, call Dr. daniel oberlin at his practice in berkeley or oakland California to schedule your consultation or request an appointment online

DIagnosis

What are kidney stones?

Kidney stones are crystallized deposits of minerals and salts that form within your kidney. These stones can move along the urinary tract into the bladder, often causing great pain along the way.

What are the symptoms of kidney stones?

Once a kidney stone has passed into the ureter, a tube connecting your kidney and bladder, you’re likely to experience a wide range of symptoms:

• Pain in your back or sides
• Radiating pain along your abdomen and groin
• Changes to urination habits, including an increased need to urinate
• Pain during urination
• Nausea and vomiting
• Chills or fever

Kidney stones share some of these symptoms with other serious conditions, such as kidney cancer, so it’s important to rule out these conditions even if you think you have a kidney stone.

What causes kidney stones?

While there is no single cause of kidney stones, there are a few common risk factors that contribute to their formation. Kidney stones are divided into four types based on how they formed: Calcium stones, struvite stones, uric acid stones and cystine stones

Treatment

How are kidney stones treated?

For small kidney stones, Dr. Oberlin recommends plenty of water and pain relievers while the stone naturally passes through your urinary tract. Larger stones that can’t pass through your tract need minimally invasive treatment to remove them. The most common procedures Dr. Oberlin performs include:

Ureteroscopy

Using a tiny camera called a telescope called a ureteroscope, Dr. Oberlin locates the stones and uses a laser to break them into small particles which he then removes.

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy

During extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), Dr. Oberlin uses sound waves to break the kidney stone into tiny pieces that can then pass through the urinary tract.

Surgery

If the stone is large, ESWL and ureteroscopy may not be effective to removing all the fragments. Dr. Oberlin may perform minimally invasive surgery known as percutaneous nephrolithotomy.  During this procedure, a small tube is placed into the kidney and a camera is and ultrasonic waves are used to directly pulverize and remove all stone fragments.

If you’re in the Greater San Francisco area including Berkeley and Oakland and you’re suffering from symptoms that you think might be kidney stones, call Dr. Oberlin to request your consultation or request an appointment online.

prevention

Dr. Oberlin uses evidence-based methods to shrink existing stones and prevent future stones from occurring.  

Examples of the personalize recommendations you may receive about preventing the formation of kidney stones :

• Personalized analysis of blood and urine to determine metabolic abnormalities
• Drinking more than 80 ounces of water a day
• Limiting your intake of oxalate-rich foods such as rhubarb, beets, and nuts
• Eating more calcium-rich foods and limiting the need for calcium supplements
• Reducing protein and salt intake