Among all the afflictions a woman is capable of sustaining, there are few that are as painful as kidney stones. Even the once-a-month horror of premenstrual syndrome is not as painful as kidney stones. The technical definition of a kidney stone is a hard mass formed from crystalline material that separates from urine in the urinary tract. What this translates to is that tiny rocks can form in one or both of the ureters, which is the small tube that connects the kidney to the bladder. These rocks can block the flow of urine, creating an incredibly painful situation that, if not dealt with properly, can result in critical situations, such as the rupture of the ureter in question.

The symptoms for kidney stones are a little different for women than for men, mainly because their lower abdominal/pelvic area is structured differently. The easiest symptom to identify is pain in the lower back near the kidneys. The pain does not have to be in the kidney itself but in the surrounding area below the kidney. Pain can radiate from the actual source of the problem to different areas of the body that may or may not have anything to do with the problem itself. This creates confusion among sufferers because they may think that are afflicted with one problem, say mild inflammation of the colon, and it is actually another problem entirely, in this instance a kidney stone.

Incidences of kidney stones in women have been on the rise in recent years, mostly due to the spread of unhealthy dietary habits like the ingesting of large amounts of artificial food chemicals as well as materials such as caffeine. The crystallization of these materials, on a day-by-day basis, is quite minute. Over time, however, this process guarantees a kidney stone will be formed – it’s just a question of when.