Kidney stones

For a lay person:

Kidney stones are hard deposits that form in the kidneys. A stone moving down the urinary tract causes severe, cramping pain in the side or back that spreads to the groin, often with blood in the urine.

For a trained medical person:

Calcium oxalate stones are most common. Diagnosis by non-contrast CT. Management: analgesia, medical expulsive therapy, and ureteroscopy or lithotripsy for larger stones, with prevention by fluids and metabolic workup.

In Chinese medicine:

Flaws and Sionneau's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Lower Jiao Damp-Heat; Qi and Blood Stagnation; Spleen-kidney qi deficiency; Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency; Kidney Yang Deficiency. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: Get emergency care for stone pain with fever or chills, or if you cannot pass urine.