Kidney stone? Here’s What you mustn’t do

renal calculi is becoming a common occurrence. I remember way back, some 20 years ago. My wife was working in a diagnostic centre as an assistant to the cardiologist. One evening I was waiting for her to finish her duty so we could drive back home together. I was seated in the waiting area. My attention caught the male receptionist. He was gulping water every few minutes. The environment was air-conditioned. I took the liberty to ask him what his reason was to drink water every few minutes! He told me that he had kidney stones.

Radiologists and helpers in the radiology department at diagnostic centres often suggest people who have renal calculi to drink lots of water so that kidney stones can get flushed out.

Let me tell you… This is a bad advice to give, and worse if you follow.

You must drink water. But don\’t drink more water when you have stones in your kidneys.

What happens when you have a kidney stone and drink more water?

When you drink more than adequate water, your kidneys experience more pressure. Whether this much pressure is good or bad, depends on the size of the stone you\’re having in your kidneys. If the stone is larger than 5mm, chances are that it might block the ureter. This will cause nausea, increased blood pressure and may also rupture some blood vessels causing you to pass blood in urine.

What kidney stone sizes are safe to flush?

There\’s no such thing as a safe size to flush. The width of the ureter matters. Usually stone sizes of upto 4mm are considered easy to flush. Anything more than 4mm needs more caution.

Types of kidney stones

There are primarily four types of renal calculi. These are calcium phosphate stones, uric acid stones, struvite stones and cystine stones. Calcium stones are most common. Uric acid stones are formed from uric acid or may also contain calcium in them. Struvite stones are formed in the urinary tract when you have urinary tract infections.Cystine stones are rare and are formed due to a genetic disorder.

Home remedies to flush kidney stones

This kidney stone flush drink will help you

There are three ingredients to this preparation.

Gokshura is a thorny, dry and hard seed you can get in any raw drug store.
Corn silk is the silky hair like fibres that dangle from a corn tip.
Pashanabheda churna is a natural herb powder that helps break the stones into smaller pieces and flush stones out of your kidneys.

How to prepare your kidney stone flush drink?

Add a fistful gokshura seeds, 2 grams of corn silk and 5 grams of Pasahanbheda churna to 200ml water. Use a stove to heat water. Avoid microwave. Bring the water to a boil And switch off the stove.

Strain the drink the water either early morning or at 3pm. Don\’t do it both times. Exercise caution while drinking this preparation to remove renal calculi. Corn silk is consumed traditionally as a Vaso-dilator. This means it\’ll lower your blood pressure. So, you must be cautious not to over use it.

How many days does it take to flush kidney stones?

There\’s no specific time to flush kidney stones. However, from experience, I\’ve seen stones flush within 15 days. A repeat scan after 15 days mustn\’t show any trace of stones in your kidneys.

In just one case, even after 15 days, the stone wasn\’t flushed out.

Here\’s what you must do when you have kidney stones

1. Get an x-ray or an ultrasound scan
2. If it\’s more than 5mm, don\’t drink too much water. Ayurveda has excellent remedies to flush kidney stones out.
3. Get your Nadi Pariksha done to find out what kind of kidney stone you have. Scan might not be able to reveal this to you. Nadi Pariksha will give you necessary guidance to proceed on appropriate treatment method.
4. If your stone is 4mm or smaller, you can take the kidney stone flush drink.
5. If your stone is larger than 5mm, you must take the kidney stone flush drink for a longer time. Get a repeat Nadi Pariksha and an x-ray or ultrasound after 15 days.
6. Share this article with others so they know what to do when they have a kidney stone.

— Mahesh Krishnamurthy