Kidney Pain vs. Lower Left Back Pain: What Should You Know

If you are suffering pain in your back, perhaps this could be from your kidneys. This is why it is hard to tell what the pain is coming from. The symptoms you are experiencing can help distinguish the source of the pain. The location, type, and severity of the pain are some of the things you can use to distinguish the type of pain. People often confuse kidney pain with back pain. Unlike back pain, which usually occurs in the lower left back kidney pain is high up the back.

How to know if it is a pain in your kidneys

Kidney pain is most often caused by an infection called pyelonephritis or perhaps stones in the tubes that drains out of the kidneys.

Read Also This – polycystic kidney disease treatment in ayurveda

If the source of the pain is your kidneys, it will have these features:

Location

Kidney pain causes pain in the flank, on either side of the spine between the rib cage and your hips. Kidney pain may occur on one side of the body, but it can also occur on both sides.

Type of pain

Pain in your kidneys is usually sharp and intense, especially if you have a kidney stone. But it is mild if you have pain due to kidney infection. UTI infections cause pain when urinating and it is entirely different. The pain may get worse when you move around or go away with time.

Read Also This – child nephrotic syndrome treatment in ayurveda

If you have a kidney stone, the pain may come and go as the stone moves. Such causes of kidney pain cannot be overlooked and need treatment right away.

Note: It is essential to learn about the cause of pain so that treatment be taken at the right time.

Radiation of the pain

Sometimes the pain in your kidneys radiates to your inner thigh or lower abdomen.

Severity of the pain

Kidney pain can be intense or mild, depending upon the root cause. A kidney stone usually causes sharp pain in the area of the stone, while the pain from a kidney infection is a little mild.

Read Also This – ayurvedic treatment for kidney cyst

Different causes of back pain

Kidney stones. Kidney stones develop from the chemical buildup in the body. Stones are small granules of oxalate. They can be as small as a grain or as large as a pearl. Small stones can pass out of the body during urination without much difficulty, but large stones obstruct the urinary tract and prevent urine from excreting out.

Urinary tract infection: Infection along the urinary tract also causes pain in the kidneys. The infection is caused by bacteria that may enter the urinary tract during urination or sexual intercourse. The symptoms may include painful urination, smelly urine, inability to empty the bladder.

Polycystic kidney disease: PKD is another condition that allows numerous cysts to grow on the kidneys. It is an inherited condition. PKD causes immense pain when the cysts expand. Over time, the kidney’s size also increases, and lose function.

Kidney Infection: An infection in your kidneys occurs when a bacteria has entered the bladder and spread to the kidneys. People with diabetes or blockage in the urinary tract have inverse urine flow, sometimes up to the kidneys, resulting in urine buildup. This results in bacterial growth more rapidly and causes permanent loss of kidney function.

Kidney (renal) cancer: Renal cell carcinoma is the most type of kidney cancer. It usually develops when individuals reach their 60’s or 70’s. Rarely this affect the people who are in their 50’s. The symptoms might include blood in the urine, pain in the back or kidney, swelling in the side, blood in the urine, etc.

When kidney pain occurs, it accompanies the following of the signs:

• fever and chills
• nausea and vomiting
• cloudy or dark urine
• an urgent need to urinate
• pain when you urinate
• a recent infection in your bladder
• blood in your urine (this can happen with an infection or kidney stones)

How to identify back pain

Back pain is more common and frequent in individuals. It is usually caused by muscles, bones, or nerve-related issues.

Location

Back pain can occur anywhere in the back, usually located in the lower back.

Type of pain

It is usually a dull ache. If a nerve has been the cause of back pain, the pain is a sharp burning sensation that may travel down to the lower leg and to the feet. If it is muscle pain, it affects one or both sides, but nerve pain usually affects one side only.

Radiation of the pain

Nerve pain starts from the back and lowers down to the thighs then to the feet. Pain from a muscle usually lodges in the back only.

Severity of the pain

Back pain is described as acute or chronic based on how long you have been suffering from it.
Things that make it better or worse.

Read Also This – high serum creatinine treatment in the ayurvedic medicine

Back pain may get worse as you move or if you sit in the same posture for a long time. However, if you change posture, this may go away.

Accompanying symptoms

• Pain in your back may accompany the following signs:
• Swelling in the painful area that feels tender to the touch
• numbness or weakness in one or both of your legs
• A muscle spasm
• Dizziness

If you have back pain and cannot hold urine, it includes pressing on your spinal nerves. Make sure to consult your doctor right away. It is called cauda equina syndrome that causes severe long-term damage to the spinal nerves if not given immediate treatment.