Kidney stones are one of the most painful experiences you could ever go through and there are some tricks you can do at home to help them pass and to reduce your pain.
How can you reduce the pain from kidney stones at home? Here are 11 tips:
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor! I am a mom who has had several kidney stones. At the writing of this post, I am nursing my teenage daughter through passing a kidney stone. These are my opinions from my experiences. Consult your doctor! Kidney stones can be very serious and dangerous to your health.
Here are a few commonly asked questions about kidney stones:
Where is Kidney Stone Pain?
usually on the lower back to start, like an intense menstrual cramp (for women) or like pain after a punch to the side (for guys).
Does Kidney Stone Pain Come & Go?
Yes, kidney stone pain comes and goes, and is intermittent.
As the stone moves it hurts. As it stops, you don’t hurt. If the stone breaks into smaller pieces, the pain goes away. When the stone passes, the pain is gone for good. But, the pain comes back if the stone was just stuck and then starts moving again. It’s impossible to tell for sure. Trust your body.
Is Kidney Stone Pain Sudden?
It can be. I woke up with pain so bad, I couldn’t gather enough air to call my hubby for help. My daughter, on the other hand, started grabbing her back during a metro high school tennis match and thought she was just sore from serving the ball.
Her pain came the next morning.
We are actively going through a kidney stone passing right now, with my 16 year old teen daughter.
In this post I will share with you some tips that helped me & my teen pass kidney stones. You can read more about our family here.
1. Get a Kidney Stone Diagnosis!
First of all, you need to get a diagnosis from a doctor!
During the movement of a kidney stone, you are in so much pain that you feel like you are dying, like you are bleeding from the inside out. Like you are being sliced with a knife from the inside.
And, essentially, you are.
But, if you don’t know what’s happening with your body, whether or not your pain is INDEED coming from a moving kidney stone, then you NEED to know why you are in pain. Other things could be going on, so get an ultrasound or CT scan and make sure!
Each time I have had a moving kidney stone, I have gone to the Emergency Room. We took our daughter to the emergency room as well. I believe this is the most efficient way to deal with the pain.
You can get in right away (most of the time), get some pain meds and start the process of diagnosis.
2. Take a Hot Bath!
When you are at home and the pain of the kidney stone is bad, take a hot bath.
If you can do ONE THING, take a hot bath! This really helps reduce the pain!
Try using epsom salt, plus some bath bombs from LUSH or Target. We stock up on bath bombs so we can use them in this and other self care bath time.
You can use some essential oils to help you relax and calm down. Our favorite essential oils to use are lavender, bergamot or grapefruit.
Stay in the bath as long as you can, making sure your torso is all the way covered with water.
Use a rolled up towel for a pillow behind your head, and keep a glass of water close by.
3. Drink Water with Lemon Juice
One of the best things to drink during the movement of a kidney stone is water with fresh lemon juice, or other lemon juice if you don’t have fresh lemons.
I use 1/2 a lemon squeezed into 12 oz of water.
You want to “flush” your stone out with water, so I drink twice as much water per day as I usually drink.
On a “normal” non-kidney-stone day, I’ll drink about 8 glasses of 8 oz of water, so 64 oz all together.
When I’m passing a kidney stone, I try to double that amount.
I keep track on a chart of how much I’ve had, because I can easily forget how much water I’ve had so far. This also helps keep me distracted from the pain.
Try to pee clear. This is the most important home remedy: drink more than you usually do.
4. Breathe Like Labor Breathing When Passing a Kidney Stone
Seriously, this really helps.
Breathing for Pain Relief During Labor
Patterned Breathing During Labor
Upgrade Your Breath, Upgrade Your Health
Breathe as best you can, because when the pain is high, you won’t be able to breathe much because it hurts to move your abdomen AT ALL.
Once you can move your abdomen for more than just a “keep-you-alive” breath, try breathing intentionally to reduce your pain.
Watch this video of a guided Meditation for Pain Relief.
This takes practice, but it REALLY WORKS!
If you don’t have access to the internet, or can’t stay still enough to watch, try this:
- breathe in through your nose
- breathe out through your mouth
- “follow” your “in” breathe all the way to the bottom of your lungs
- “follow” your breathe out
- breathe in “white light”, see it as bright white, “follow” it
- scan your body for pain and focus your “in-white light” breathe to surround that pain
- replace the pain with bright light and breathe out all pain
- repeat
Be patient with this. You need to train your brain to work with you, not against you. This can be especially challenging when you are in pain, so practice BETWEEN kidney stone movements.
5. Drink This Simple Recipe During Kidney Stone Pain
When I was hurting, passing a kidney stone, one of my friends tried this and it worked for me as well.
Simple Kidney Stone Passing Recipe:
- 2 tbsp each:
- fresh lemon juice
- olive oil
- Braggs © Apple Cider Vinager (this is an amazon affiliate link)
- 1 tbsp raw honey
Wisk all ingredients together and drink. Down it!
Note: Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar is the best one to use. The other brands BURN going down! This is what the bottle looks like, and that picture is my amazon associates affiliate link, so you can have it sent right to your house if you don’t have Bragg’s options close to you!
Chase with 2 oz of water.
This is one of the best drinks I have found to help reduce the pain when passing a kidney stone.
Maybe the oil coats the innards? Maybe the Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar© dissolves the stone?
I don’t know why this helps, but I have been able to completely take away pain of a passing kidney stone once I drink this mixture.
Drink 1-3 times per day while you are passing a stone.
6. Lay On Your Affected Side
Once you drink the recipe above, lay on your affected side and let the oil coat that area.
Now, I’m not sure if that’s what is happening, but it sure feels like it to me, so I’m going with that explanation.
Stay still for at least 30 minutes, and rest quietly.
Even when I have not had the “kidney stone drink”, I prefer to lay on my affected side. I feel less pain when I do.
But, talking to other kidney stone pain sufferers, there are some who agree with me, and some who feel better with their affected side up; this way they put a heating pack on that area. I put mine under the area or on my tummy.
7. Use a Heating Pack & Stay Warm When You Have a Kidney Stone
Stay warm and still while you are hurting with a kidney stone passing.
A warm bath, shower, heating pack, electric blanket, fluffy blankets, do what you like best to stay warm.
Try putting your heating pack on several key areas:
- side of the neck
- middle of the tummy
- chest
- low back
- right on affected area
The most helpful area for my heating pack has been on my tummy.
Remember to be careful about burning your skin with a hot pad, and put a thin t-shirt or towel between your skin and the heating pad.
Related Post: How Tea Can Benefit Your Self-Care Routine
8. Distract Yourself From The Kidney Stone Pain
You can distract yourself from the pain to help for a little while.
My favorite way to do this is with great movies, especially Trilogies!
Get Amazon Prime!! It’s the best way to stream distractible movies!
Best Distractible Movies (in my opinion!):
9. Visualize the Kidney Stone Leaving
Have you tried visualization before? It works in sports to focus on a given moment.
It can also work to reduce your pain.
There are many ways to do visualization for pain relief, but also for reducing stress, anxiety & depression. Again, this takes practice and patience, but if you stick with it, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.
You might like these articles on Visualization:
- How to Use Visualization to Heal Physically or Emotionally
- 6 Ways to Use Your Mind to Control Pain
- Relaxation and Visualization Exercise
You can put together your own “scene” if you will, to help your pain, or to help you feel like you are “doing something to help.” I think with severe pain, it’s easy to feel POWERLESS! And feeling powerless does not feel good.
Try this visualization to reduce your pain during a kidney stone passing:
- close your eyes and breathe in/out a few times, seeing the breath in as a bright light
- in your mind, notice exactly where you are feeling pain and see it asking for help
- this could look like a pulsating area, a colored light, or smoke or oil swirling for example
- When you breathe in, see the white light come into your body and go down, through your body to your area of pain and surround the pain
- see the white light swirl clockwise all around the pain and nurture the pain with anything it needs to stop hurting
- notice the “conversation” the stone & pain area is having and answer with love, hope and calm coming from within the white light
- keep listening to the pain’s “conversation”, but let the white light have the last say
- see the white light gently pull the stone & pain down and out of the body. See the white light have the kidney stone and the pain leave the body with your breathe out, taking with it as much of the pain as possible
- Repeat, and try to have patience and compassion for the kidney stone and pain
Remember, this takes practice and patience!
At first, you can feel silly and crazy, and like you are wasting your time. Keep trying! Don’t give up!
10. Bounce When You are Pain Free (Or Ride Disneyland’s Thunder Mountain!)
When you are finally out of pain but you haven’t passed the stone yet, try to bounce.
You want the stone to move down and out, therefore, when you aren’t hurting, you can help it along by bouncing.
Jump and/or jog in place, or just jiggle a little.
This won’t work for everyone, but it seemed to help my stones move. If you have used the Kidney Stone Drink from above, then the movement of the kidney stone won’t hurt as badly now. At least this is my theory.
The way I see it, the kidney stone needs to move out of me, and it may or may not hurt as it’s moving. If I’ve coated my insides with some oil and tried to dissolve the stone with the Apple Cider Vinegar, maybe I can get it to move without hurting.
Or, you can ride Thunder Mountain in Disneyland or Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.
Check out this article about passing kidney stones by riding Disney’s Thunder Mountain!
11. Stretch As Much As You Can
When you are in between pain spells, you can try to stretch the sides of your body.
This will seem unimaginable while you are experiencing intense pain, but as your pain lessens, stretching can really help the stone move and the pain stay away.
Start with just sitting up as straight as you can. You will be bent over or curled up during the painful periods of time, and straightening your back and stretching your abdominals will feel really good.
You will know your limits; they will be painfully obvious.
So, stretch as far as you can comfortably, trying to use your breath in synch with your movements.
If you get really brave, lean one arm over your head and stretch your side, or twist your torso.
Here are some stretches you could try:
Conclusion
Here are some tips to help reduce the pain of passing a kidney stone and for helping the kidney stone move down and out of your body.
These tips helped me during the 4 kidney stones I have passed and helped my teenager during the pain and passing of a kidney stone.
- Get a diagnosis
- Take a Hot Bath
- Drink water with lemon
- Breath like labor breathing
- Drink this simple recipe
- Lay on your affected side
- Use heat pads & stay warm
- Distract yourself
- Visualize the stone leaving
- Bounce when you are pain-free
- Stretch as much as you can
If you are having severe pain, call an ambulance! Don’t mess around, just do it.
And, if you are home, suffering the pain of kidney stones, I have been there, and I am sooooo sorry!
Just remember that this is NOT permanent!
I hope some of the tips here were able to help you!
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