Anyone who has ever had a kidney stone will probably never forget it.
“They can be incredibly painful,” said pediatrician Christine Ashburn, with Kaiser Permanente.
Kidney stones are formed when substances such as calcium, oxalate and phosphate — which are normally dissolved in urine — become too concentrated and crystalize.
A stone the size of a grain of sand can cause excruciating pain, Ashburn said: “As they’re working their way out, they’re causing little micro-traumas all throughout the urinary tract. You can have nausea and vomiting, usually related to the pain being so severe.”
During National Kidney Month, Ashburn said a growing number of people — including teenagers — are developing kidney stones. However, the chances of developing kidney stones can be reduced by what goes into the body, she said.
“Kidney stones are on the rise for everybody, but some recent studies have shown that in particular for adolescents,” said Ashburn. “We’re seeing about a 28% increase for teenage girls, and a 23% increase for teenage boys over a five-year period.”
As for why, Ashburn said teenagers typically don’t drink enough water during the day.
“But the other contributing factor is too much sodium,” said Ashburn. “With teens having a diet that’s so high in processed food and sodium snack foods, it actually creates an imbalance with the amount of calcium that gets into our urine — it can concentrate, and that puts you at an increased risk for those stones to develop.”
‘We don’t think about kidney stones for our kids’
Ashburn said sometimes young people experience symptoms related to kidney stones, but are unaware of the cause.
“It can be tricky, because a lot of times as parents, we don’t think about kidney stones happening for our kids,” said Ashburn. “Sometimes they may go on to have pain and symptoms for several weeks,” before kidney stones are identified as the cause.
Often, people aren’t aware they have a kidney stone.
“Some symptoms to watch out for might include severe pain, either in the abdomen or the back, near the kidneys,” said Ashburn. “So, it can be belly or back pain.”
In addition, “Cloudy or foul-smelling urine might be an early tip off that there’s some increased calcium or deposits there.”
Treatment will depend upon the size of the stone and where it’s located in the urinary tract.
“Some are very small, and they might cause mild symptoms, so we’re looking at hydration and pain control until it passes naturally” through urination.
For larger stones, which are causing more blockage, Ashburn said there are treatments to break up that stone, including shock wave lithotripsy, and in severe cases, surgery may be required.
The American Kidney Fund says kidney disease affects 1 in 7 American adults, and as many as 9 in 10 people living with the condition are unaware that they have it, and don’t have symptoms until later stages.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
