Why Kidney Stones Are More Prevalent in Summer

The hottest months of the year are prime time for kidney stones, with many adults seeking relief for symptoms like sudden stabbing back or side pain, burning during urination, or fever and chills.

At Gulf Coast Urology, our team of urology specialists provides expert kidney stone diagnosis and treatment at offices in Houston and Nassau Bay, Texas. Today’s blog covers summertime kidney stones and how we can treat the problem to get you back to enjoying the season.

Why kidney stones are common in summer

The most common cause of increased summertime kidney stones is dehydration. During the hotter months, you’re usually more active and spend more time outdoors. That leads to increased fluid loss through perspiration.

Unfortunately, many people don’t drink enough water to compensate for this loss, leading to dehydration. Your kidneys need a regular flow of fluids to help properly flush fragments of calcium, other minerals, and waste materials out of the body.

Without adequate fluids, those fragments remain. They can combine to form kidney stones.

Parts of the country, including our area of Texas, have particularly warm summers, which may increase your risk of dehydration and kidney stones.

Interestingly, the kidney stones that cause pain in the summer might have started forming over the winter. In the colder months, your urine contains higher levels of calcium, and calcium accounts for about 80% of kidney stones.

So, the tiny stones that formed in the winter can suddenly increase in size due to dehydration in the summer. At this point, they might start moving and cause severe pain.

Help for summertime kidney stones

Our Gulf Coast Urology specialists offer complete care for kidney stones at all times of the year. We understand that sudden symptoms can disrupt your summer plans, so it’s our goal to diagnose and treat the issue quickly and get you back to enjoying the warm weather.

Treatment options include:

Drinking more water

Increasing your water intake can prevent dehydration and help move smaller kidney stones out of your kidneys, through the urinary tract, and out of your body.

Medication

When kidney stones are larger but can still pass through your urinary system, medication may help. Common options include pain relievers and alpha blockers to help relax your ureter (the tube that carries urine from the kidney to the bladder) so you can pass the stone.

Minimally invasive procedures

Some kidney stones won’t pass during urination because they’re too big for the ureters. For example, a 1-centimeter kidney stone has less than a 10% chance of passing naturally. Our team uses several approaches to eliminate larger kidney stones, including:

• Shockwave therapy: breaks up the stones into fragments that you can pass
• Ureteroscopy: procedure to access and remove the stone using a long scope
• Percutaneous nephrolithotomy: surgical removal of the stone through a small puncture

After your procedure, we advise you on how to prevent the same problem next summer.

Hot weather and kidney stones aren’t a good pairing, so our Gulf Coast Urology team is here to deal with your painful stones safely and quickly. Contact us online or call the office nearest you to get help with kidney stones today.