About one-tenth of all Americans experience kidney stones during their lifetime. At Modern Urology, extensively trained urologists Jose Vilaro, MD, and Adam De Fazio, MD, JD, offer a full array of kidney stone treatments in their Miami, Florida, office. If you’re having kidney stone pain, call the office or click on the online booking link to get help today.
Kidney stones are pebble-like collections of minerals and salts in your urine. If there’s too much of one or more of these substances and your urine can’t dilute it, crystals start growing. Then, the crystals bind with other elements to create a kidney stone.
Kidney stones are made of:
Anyone can develop any type of kidney stone, but certain factors influence the type of stones you develop. For example, struvite stones usually occur only in people with chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs), while uric acid stones are more prevalent in people with diabetes and in those who struggle with their weight.
Kidney stones can cause issues such as:
Men may also experience pain at the end of their penis.
Kidney stones may not cause any physical issues if they’re small and you pass them quickly. In general, however, the bigger the stone, the more likely it is to be hard to pass in your urine. Larger stones can lodge in your ureter (the tube between your kidney and bladder) and become particularly painful.
Treatment of kidney stones depends on what kind of issues you’re having, the size of the stones, and other individual factors. Modern Urology offers the entire array of kidney stone treatments, with all treatments performed by extensively trained urologists. Options include:
ESWL sends sound waves (shock waves) directly into your kidney stones. Your provider uses X-ray or ultrasound imaging to target the stones for optimal precision, with no incisions needed. The shock waves shatter the kidney stones, leaving them in much smaller pieces you can pass during urination.
Laser lithotripsy is another incision-free option in which your provider threads a bendable laser fiber through your urethra. Then, they break up the stones using laser energy. Your provider may also remove the stone fragments using a special miniature basket or other tools.
This procedure works faster than ESWL because it applies laser energy directly to the stone.
PCNL is a surgical procedure to remove kidney stones that are too large to treat with ESWL or laser lithotripsy. In PCNL, your surgeon creates a small incision in your back and then removes the stones through a slim tube. Generally, this surgery is only for kidney stones larger than 0.8 inches.
Most kidney stones are treatable with advanced nonsurgical treatments. To learn more, call Modern Urology or click on the online booking link now.