Stones … great for making houses or skimming on lakes, not so great in your body.
We all know about kidney stones, but what are some of the less well-known body stones and what can you do about them?
Kidney stones
Everyone knows about kidney stones. They are more painful than childbirth apparently. The only people who have told me this anecdote are men, so I’ll just give a nod and a wink to that.
However, they are certainly painful.
Kidney stones are formed when salts in your urine form solid crystals.
They can block the flow of urine, and cause infections, kidney damage or even kidney failure.
If you are feeling pain in your lower back area, have blood in your wee, are passing small stones in your wee or regularly need to urgently urinate, see your doctor.
Bladder stones
These are a close relative of the kidney stone, because often they are the result of a kidney stone slipping down into the bladder, although bladder stones can form on their own.
They usually form as a result of your urine being too high in some minerals and too low in others. You will need to see a doctor.
Tonsil stones
Have you ever coughed out a disgusting-smelling, squishy lump and wondered what the hell that was? Well, it has a name, that’s a tonsil stone.
Tonsil stones are formed when dead skin or other debris get caught up in your tonsils. Technically they are called tonsilloliths, which sounds like your doctor has a lisp.
You can try to gargle them out with warm, salty water or gently apply a cotton bud around the area to push them out.
Gallstones
Gall comes from the Old English word galla which means bile. Back then it was thought the bile was responsible for your temperament as in “he wouldn’t have the gall”.
Gallstones can make you cranky though. They are hard stones formed from undissolved cholesterol – yuck – or bile itself.
Symptoms include pain in the back, abdomen, or right shoulder (really), fever, yellowing eyes, vomiting, nausea, sweating or clay-coloured stools. That last one is a big vague for me, clay comes in all sorts of colours.
Anyway, they are nasty symptoms, so once again, see a doctor.
Pancreas stones
As if gallstones weren’t galling enough, sometimes they can slip out of the gall bladder and block the bile duct.
When this happens it stops pancreatic enzymes from travelling to where they should be – the small intestine – back into the pancreas, which is where the problems start.
This can develop into pancreatitis. There are a lot of symptoms, check them out here.
It’s a good idea to get this sorted out because while pancreatitis can just flare up and be gone, sometimes it can become a chronic condition and last years.
Prostate stones
I didn’t know about these, probably because I never will have to worry about them. Anyway, prostate stones aren’t as bad as they sound.
They are small calcium deposits that are very common from middle age onwards.
They are usually harmless and are often only found when looking for something else, such as during a scan or a prostate exam.
However, sometimes they can cause problems such as needing to go to the toilet a lot, difficulty urinating and pain in the pelvis, lower back area or perineum.
So what happens is the stones are sitting there innocently, but sometimes they get colonised by bacteria, according to one source I read, which is medical talk for infected.
Generally a course of antibiotics will clear up any problems, but sometimes they will have to be removed using surgical instrument through the penis or by surgery.
Have you suffered from any of these ailments? How were they treated? Why not share your experience in the comments section below?
Also read: Can we have a better later life?
Health disclaimer: This article contains general information about health issues and is not advice. For health advice, consult your medical practitioner.
