Kidney pain can be caused by infections, kidney stones, blood clots, tumors, and other kidney diseases. Diagnosis involves urine tests, X-rays, scans, and biopsies. Treatment depends on the underlying condition.
Probably the most common cause of kidney pain is a kidney infection, known as pyelonephritis, where you feel a dull, aching pain in your upper back on one side, around the level of your lower ribs, along with symptoms such as fever and blood in urine. Kidney stones can cause sudden, severe pain, however, since this occurs when the stone has left the kidney and travels along the tube, or ureter, that leads to the bladder, it could be argued that it is not technically kidney pain. It’s important to remember that some conditions serious enough to cause kidney failure don’t cause pain, and that the pain may seem to come from the kidneys, but other conditions can cause pain around the same area. Sometimes people assume that lower back pain is kidney pain, but the kidneys are located slightly higher up, tucked inside the lower ribs in the back of the torso. Other possible causes of kidney pain include blood clots, tumors, a urinary tract infection, and any kidney disease that causes kidney tissue to die.
The condition known as atherosclerosis, in which arteries become narrowed, can lead to a blood clot forming in the renal artery that supplies the kidney. Loss of blood supply to some or all of the kidney tissue causes sudden pain and possible blood in the urine. Kidney tumors can also cause blood in the urine, but pain from tumors tends to develop more gradually. Hydronephrosis is another condition that can cause kidney pain. In hydronephrosis, an obstruction of urine flow from the kidney by a tumor, stone, or knot in the urinary tract leads to urine back pressure and a swollen kidney.
Diagnosis of kidney pain can be made using tests such as urine test strips and urine cultures. Urine test sticks change color to indicate abnormalities in your urine, such as changes in acidity and concentration, or the presence of blood, proteins, bacteria, and other substances. A kidney infection could lead to blood and protein being found in the urine, and a urine culture, in which microbes from a urine sample can grow, could be used to determine the type of bacteria involved.
X-rays and scans of the kidneys and urinary system can help diagnose the cause of the kidney pain. A sample of kidney tissue, known as a biopsy, may be taken to look for signs of disease. Some kidney disorders, such as polycystic kidney disease, cause high blood pressure and pain, and blood pressure may be measured during investigations. Blood tests may be done to see if waste products build up in the blood due to loss of kidney function. Treatment of kidney pain varies depending on the cause, but most often the pain resolves when the underlying condition is successfully treated.
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