Microscopic Hematuria and Kidney Stones

Microscopic hematuria often indicates kidney stones. The kidney is the organ responsible for filtering the blood and passing the waste through the urine and out of the body. When too many minerals or acids build up in the urine, kidney stones can form. Having a kidney stone can be a very painful experience. The most common way to pass a kidney stone is to “wait and see” if the stone can pass through the urinary tract on its own. However, as it passes it can scrape against the walls of the urinary tract and cause irritation, inflammation, gross hematuria, damage to tissue and microscopic hematuria.
 
Microscopic hematuria with kidney stones is not the only urinary symptom you may experience. Kidney stones symptoms can also include kidney pain that you will feel in your lower back or abdomen. You may also feel pain in the groin area as the stone passes through your body. Other symptoms of kidney stones include painful urination, frequent urination, cloudy urine, and nausea. Having a urinary infection, such as a urinary tract infection or bladder infection, can also indicate the presence of kidney stones.

Kidney stones can cause other urological problems to develop. For example, urinary retention is the inability to urinate. This can occur from an obstruction in the ureters (the small tubes through which urine flows from the kidneys) or the urethra (the pathway through which urine exits the body) caused by a kidney stone or bladder stone. Obstruction from bladder stones prohibits the bladder from emptying completly. Over time, urine can back up into the renal pelvis (the area in the kidney where urine is collected before going into the ureters), a dangerous condition called hydronephrosis.

Kidney stones cannot only cause hematuria but also kidney infections to develop. Nephritis is an inflammation of one or both kidneys and is the result of a kidney infection. It can become a serious condition because as the kidneys become swollen, they take protein needed for the blood and excrete it into the urine, a condition called proteinuria. This can cause problems with blood clotting and water retention (edema) in other parts of the body.

Microscopic hematuria and kidney stones can be diagnosed and treated by one of our professional urologists. Urology Specialists has an outstanding staff of experienced and highly trained urologists that can accurately evaluate your kidney stone symptoms and provide quality and effective kidney stones treatment. Having good kidney health is important because any problems with the kidneys, such as kidney stones, kidney cysts, or a kidney tumor or kidney mass from kidney cancer, can affect many other parts of your body.

<< Microscopic Hematuria | Urinary Infection >>