Will a Ureteral Stone Pass on Its Own? Size, Position and When Intervention Is Planned

The CT report is two lines long, but one number is doing all the work: 5 mm, left distal ureter. You are lying on a gurney with the pain finally dulled, a plastic strainer in a paper bag beside you, and the question that keeps circling is simple. Will a ureteral stone pass on its own, or is this the start of something that ends in an operating room?

It is a fair question, and a surprisingly answerable one. Urologists have watched thousands of stones travel, or fail to travel, the roughly foot-long tube between kidney and bladder, and the patterns are consistent enough to guide a real plan rather than a guess.

This explainer walks through what those patterns show: how much size matters, why position matters almost as much, what the waiting period actually involves, and the specific situations in which a care team stops waiting and books a procedure. None of it replaces your urologist, but it should make that conversation easier to follow.

What actually happens when a ureteral stone passes

The ureter is the muscular tube, about 10 to 12 inches long, that carries urine from each kidney down to the bladder. It is not a passive pipe. Its wall contracts in rhythmic waves, a process called peristalsis, squeezing small pulses of urine downward several times a minute.

A stone begins life in the kidney, and most cause no trouble while they sit there. The problem starts when one breaks loose and drops into the ureter, a channel whose inner width is normally only a few millimeters. If the stone is small enough, the same waves that move urine will also move the stone. It travels down in fits and starts, sometimes sticking for hours, then shifting again.

The pain that people describe as the worst of their lives, called renal colic, comes less from the stone scraping the wall and more from pressure. Urine backs up behind the blockage, the kidney and the ureter above the stone stretch, and each peristaltic wave against the obstruction sends a fresh surge. That is why the pain rises and falls rather than staying constant, and why it can shift from the flank toward the groin as the stone descends. Nausea often rides along because the kidney and gut share nerve pathways.

Once a stone drops into the bladder, most people feel abrupt relief. The bladder is roomy, and the urethra that leads out of the body is wider than the ureter, so the last leg of the journey is usually the easiest. Some people never notice the stone leave; others hear a faint click against the toilet bowl. Either way, passing a stone means completing that whole route, and whether a given stone will do so depends largely on two things: how big it is, and where along the tube it sits.

Will a ureteral stone pass on its own? What size tells you

Size is the single best predictor, and the numbers are more encouraging than most people expect when they are doubled over in an emergency department. Cleveland Clinic summarizes the pattern this way: stones smaller than 4 mm pass without treatment about 80 percent of the time, stones of 4 to 6 mm pass about 60 percent of the time, and stones larger than 6 mm pass only about 20 percent of the time. MedlinePlus puts the practical threshold in similar territory, noting that stones under about 5 mm usually pass on their own.

Stone size on imaging	Approximate chance of passing without a procedure	Average time to pass
Smaller than 4 mm	About 80 percent	About 31 days
4 to 6 mm	About 60 percent	About 45 days
Larger than 6 mm	About 20 percent	Often does not pass; procedure usually discussed

The figures above are drawn from Cleveland Clinic’s patient summary and reflect groups of patients, not any single stone. A few caveats keep them honest. Individual odds shift with position, anatomy, prior stone history and how the measurement was taken. A CT scan measures stones more precisely than a plain X-ray, and the same stone can read a millimeter larger or smaller depending on the plane the radiologist chooses. Millimeters matter at this scale: the gap between a 4 mm and a 7 mm stone is roughly the gap between a sesame seed and a lentil, yet it moves the odds from likely to unlikely.

Size also shapes how much patience is reasonable. A small stone that has not budged for weeks is a different situation from a large stone that was never expected to move at all. Your urologist will usually offer a range rather than a verdict, and that range is grounded in these population figures.

Why position in the ureter matters as much as size

Picture the ureter as a river with three narrows. The first is the ureteropelvic junction, where the kidney’s collecting funnel meets the top of the tube. The second is midway down, where the ureter bends over the large iliac blood vessels in the pelvis. The third, and tightest, is the ureterovesical junction, the point where the ureter tunnels through the bladder wall. Stones tend to lodge at one of these three spots, and the report will usually name which one.

Radiologists divide the ureter into proximal (upper), mid and distal (lower) thirds. The lower a stone sits, the shorter the remaining trip and the better its chances; a distal stone has already cleared two of the three narrows. Mayo Clinic notes that small stones near the bladder are the ones most likely to pass, and clinical guidelines focus their medication advice on distal stones for exactly this reason. A proximal stone of the same size faces the full length of the tube and all three bottlenecks.

Position also changes how the stone announces itself. Upper stones tend to produce flank and back pain. As a stone reaches the lower ureter, discomfort often migrates toward the lower abdomen, groin or genitals, and many people develop a nagging urge to urinate even when the bladder is nearly empty, because the stone is irritating the bladder wall from the inside. That shift is one of the clues clinicians use when asking whether a stone is moving.

A non-contrast CT scan is the standard way to establish both size and position, according to Mayo Clinic, because it can see almost every stone type and shows whether the kidney above is swollen with backed-up urine, a finding called hydronephrosis. Ultrasound is often preferred for pregnant patients and for follow-up, since it avoids radiation, though it can miss small ureteral stones. Knowing where the stone started is what makes later imaging meaningful: a stone that has dropped from the mid to the distal ureter is a stone on the move.

How long to pass a ureteral stone: typical timelines

The honest answer is that it varies from hours to many weeks, and the ranges in the medical literature are wide. NHS guidance describes small stones typically passing within days to a few weeks. Cleveland Clinic’s figures are longer and more specific: an average of about 31 days for stones under 4 mm and about 45 days for stones of 4 to 6 mm. Averages hide a great deal. Some 3 mm stones are out before the emergency department paperwork is finished; others sit at the ureterovesical junction for a month.

Why do clinicians tolerate a wait of several weeks rather than acting on day two? Because a healthy kidney can cope with partial, uncomplicated blockage for a while, and because every procedure carries its own risks. The calculus changes when the blockage is complete, when infection sets in, or when the wait stretches on without progress, since prolonged obstruction can begin to injure the kidney. This is why most urology pathways set a review point rather than an open-ended wait. Your team will name a date for repeat imaging or a follow-up visit, and that date is the practical limit of watchful waiting for your situation.

Expect the timeline to be uneven. A stone typically stalls, moves, stalls again. Pain-free days do not prove it has passed; a stone can sit quietly for stretches, especially once the kidney above has adjusted to the pressure. The only reliable proof of passage is catching the stone in a strainer or seeing a clear ureter on follow-up imaging, which is why your urologist may want a scan even if you feel fine.

Finally, timelines for a stone that has been treated differ from those for a stone left to pass. After shock wave lithotripsy, for example, fragments can continue to clear for weeks, and after ureteroscopy the stone is usually removed during the procedure itself. Those recovery arcs are covered later in this article.

Who is usually asked to wait, and who is not

Watchful waiting is a deliberate strategy, not a shrug. Guidelines generally consider it appropriate when a stone is small enough to have a reasonable chance of passing, the pain is controlled with oral medication, there is no sign of infection, kidney function is normal, the person has two working kidneys and can keep fluids down. Under those conditions, a trial of a few weeks is standard practice across major urology guidance, and it spares many people a procedure they never needed.

Several groups are usually steered away from waiting, or watched much more closely. The clearest case is anyone with fever or other evidence of infection above an obstructing stone; that combination can turn dangerous quickly and is treated as urgent. People with a single kidney, a transplanted kidney or stones blocking both sides have no spare capacity and are typically offered earlier drainage or removal. So are those whose blood tests show kidney function slipping.

Pain that cannot be controlled at home, or vomiting so persistent that fluids will not stay down, also shifts the plan, because a person who cannot eat, drink or sleep is not really waiting safely. Pregnancy calls for specialized decision-making, since imaging and medication choices differ and both the pregnant person and the fetus must be considered. Certain occupations matter too: pilots and some commercial drivers may face a rule from their employer or regulator that an untreated stone must be dealt with before returning to work, regardless of how likely it is to pass.

Then there is the large stone. When imaging shows something well above 6 mm, most urologists will explain that the odds of passing are low enough that a procedure is usually the more realistic route, although a trial of waiting may still be reasonable for a motivated patient with mild symptoms and a stone sitting low. None of these categories is absolute. They are the factors your treating team weighs, out loud, with you.

What watchful waiting actually involves day to day

Waiting for a stone is more active than it sounds. The first job is fluid. Mayo Clinic suggests drinking enough to produce clear or nearly clear urine, which for most adults means roughly 2 to 3 quarts (about 1.8 to 3.6 liters) a day unless a clinician has advised otherwise. The purpose is to keep urine flowing past the stone and to dilute the minerals that could enlarge it, not to blast it out with pressure. Drinking far beyond that offers no extra benefit and can be uncomfortable.

The second job is pain control. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are commonly used as the first-line class for renal colic, because they reduce the inflammation and pressure driving the pain; other analgesics are added when these are unsuitable or insufficient. Which medicine, and in what form, is the prescriber’s call, based on your kidney function, stomach history and other health conditions.

The third job is the strainer. Urinating through a fine mesh strainer or a coffee filter catches the stone when it finally arrives. That matters more than it seems: a stone sent to the laboratory reveals its chemical type, which drives prevention advice for the years ahead. Roughly four in five stones are calcium based, but uric acid, struvite and cystine stones each call for a different strategy.

Ordinary movement is encouraged when pain allows. Walking will not force a stone down, but lying still for weeks helps nothing and gentle activity tends to make the wait more tolerable. Beyond that, the plan is a scheduled check: repeat imaging, often ultrasound or a plain X-ray if the stone shows up on it, or a follow-up appointment at the interval your urologist sets.

Seek care without waiting for that appointment if you develop fever or shaking chills, pain that medication no longer touches, repeated vomiting, or you cannot pass urine. Those are the signs that waiting has stopped being safe.

Can medication help a stone pass? Medical expulsive therapy explained

Medical expulsive therapy is the name for using a medicine to improve a stone’s odds of passing on its own. The class most studied is alpha blockers, drugs originally developed for blood pressure and later for prostate symptoms. The ureter’s lower third is rich in the same receptors these drugs act on; blocking them relaxes the smooth muscle around the stone, widens the channel slightly and calms the spasms that both hurt and hold the stone in place. Mayo Clinic describes this relaxing effect on ureter muscles as the reason an alpha blocker may be offered.

What does the evidence actually show? Pooled trials suggest the benefit is real but selective. The clearest gain appears for stones in the distal ureter that measure roughly 5 to 10 mm, the band where passage is uncertain and a little help tips the balance. For very small stones, which mostly pass anyway, studies find little added benefit. For large or high stones, the drug cannot overcome the physical mismatch. NHS guidance reflects this by describing alpha blockers as an option for larger stones that are still considered passable.

Two practical points deserve mention. First, this use is often outside the drug’s original approved indication in some countries, which is common in medicine but worth understanding when you sign the prescription. Second, alpha blockers lower blood pressure and can cause dizziness, especially on standing quickly; some people also notice nasal congestion or, in men, changes in ejaculation. Your prescriber weighs these against the potential gain.

Medical expulsive therapy is not a substitute for the review appointment. It is a way of improving the odds during a defined waiting period, after which the same questions apply: has the stone moved, is the kidney comfortable, is infection absent? Whether to start, continue or stop the medicine rests with the clinician who prescribed it, and stopping early without that conversation is not advisable.

When intervention is planned: the situations that change the plan

Urologists think about intervention in two tiers: situations that demand action now, and situations where waiting has run its course.

The urgent tier is short and unambiguous. Infection behind an obstructing stone, signaled by fever, chills or a rising white cell count, is treated as an emergency because bacteria trapped under pressure can spread to the bloodstream. Here the first step is usually drainage rather than stone removal: either a thin internal tube called a ureteral stent, placed up past the stone, or a nephrostomy, a drain inserted through the back directly into the kidney. Once the infection is controlled, the stone itself is dealt with later. The same urgency applies to a blocked solitary kidney, blockage on both sides, or blood tests showing acute kidney injury.

The second tier is about failed or unreasonable waiting. Pain that cannot be controlled at home, vomiting that prevents fluids, or a stone that has not moved by the agreed review point all shift the balance toward a procedure. Cleveland Clinic notes that stones larger than 6 mm usually need medical treatment to be removed, so for those the discussion often starts at the first visit rather than after weeks of waiting.

Some indications are softer and personal. A person who has already spent three weeks off work, or who has a long trip planned and cannot risk an episode of colic far from care, may reasonably choose a procedure earlier than the guidelines strictly require. Others prefer to give the stone every chance. Both are legitimate, and a good urologist will lay out the trade-offs rather than push.

What intervention never means is failure on your part. Anatomy, stone chemistry and simple bad luck decide whether a stone lodges. The plan changes because the facts change, and the decision about when, and which procedure, sits with your treating team.

Stone stuck in ureter treatment: what the procedures involve

Three approaches cover nearly all ureteral stones, and each answers a different problem.

Ureteroscopy is the most common choice for a stone lodged in the ureter. A very thin telescope is passed through the urethra and bladder and up the ureter, with no incision, under general or spinal anesthesia. The surgeon sees the stone directly, then either lifts it out in a tiny basket or breaks it into dust and fragments with a laser fiber before removing the pieces. A temporary stent is often left in place for days to a couple of weeks to keep the ureter open while swelling settles. Risks include bleeding, urinary infection, temporary stent discomfort and, uncommonly, injury to the ureter.

Shock wave lithotripsy works from outside the body. Focused sound waves, aimed with X-ray or ultrasound guidance, crack the stone into fragments small enough to pass on their own. It suits stones that are visible on imaging and not too hard or too large, and it is often favored for stones in the kidney or upper ureter. The trade-off is that the fragments still have to travel out, so pain and passage can continue for weeks, and a second session is sometimes needed. Bruising over the flank and blood in the urine for a few days are expected.

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy is reserved for large or complex stones, mostly in the kidney rather than the ureter. A small incision in the back gives direct access to remove the stone in pieces. It involves a hospital stay and carries higher bleeding risk than the other two, which is why it is not a first choice for a typical ureteral stone.

Which procedure fits depends on stone size, position, hardness, your anatomy and any blood-thinning medication you take. The NIH’s kidney disease institute and NHS both describe these options in neutral terms, and your surgeon will explain why one is recommended over another for your stone specifically.

What the following days and weeks usually look like

If the plan is to wait, the coming weeks tend to follow a recognizable arc. The first few days are often the hardest, with episodes of colic that arrive without warning, last minutes to a few hours, and then ease. Blood in the urine, sometimes visible and sometimes only on a test strip, is common as the stone abrades the lining. Between episodes many people feel almost normal, which can be disorienting: the stone has not gone anywhere, the kidney has simply adjusted.

As a stone moves lower, the character of the discomfort often changes from flank pain to a pressing urge to urinate, frequency and a burning sensation, all caused by irritation near the bladder. Some people notice a final sharp episode as the stone squeezes through the ureterovesical junction, followed by an odd quiet. The stone may then sit in the bladder for a day or two before it passes with the urine stream, sometimes with a brief sting.

Follow-up is the anchor. Your urologist will set a review, typically within a few weeks, with imaging to confirm the ureter is clear. This step matters even when symptoms have vanished, because a silent stone that still blocks the kidney is the scenario clinicians most want to avoid.

If a procedure was performed, expect a different rhythm. After ureteroscopy, most people go home the same day. Burning with urination, urgency and pink-tinged urine are usual for several days, and a stent, if placed, may cause flank aching and bladder spasms until it is removed. After shock wave lithotripsy, fragments can continue to pass for weeks, with intermittent colic as they do, and a follow-up X-ray checks that the kidney has cleared.

Whichever route you took, the weeks after a stone are also the start of prevention: stone analysis, sometimes blood and 24-hour urine tests, and a conversation about fluid intake and diet tailored to the stone type you formed.

Signs a kidney stone is passing versus staying put: what your team is watching for

People naturally want a way to read the situation from the inside, and there are observations worth reporting to your care team. What follows is not a self-diagnosis checklist; none of these signs proves anything on its own, and only imaging or a stone in the strainer settles the question. They are simply the changes clinicians ask about at follow-up.

Migration of discomfort is the most telling. A stone that started as flank pain and now produces lower abdominal or groin pressure, urgency and frequency has very likely traveled down the ureter. That pattern reflects the stone approaching the bladder, where it irritates a different set of nerves. A stone that produces the same flank pain in the same spot week after week is more likely to be stationary.

The intensity and frequency of colic episodes are less informative than people assume. Pain is driven by obstruction and spasm, not by size, so a small moving stone can hurt more than a large stationary one. A sudden lull in pain can mean the stone has dropped into the bladder, but it can equally mean the kidney above has stopped producing much urine on that side, which is the opposite of good news. This is why clinicians treat a pain-free week as a reason to image, not a reason to cancel the appointment.

Visible blood in the urine often waxes and wanes as the stone moves and settles, so it is a poor guide either way. Passing small gritty fragments, on the other hand, is meaningful: it suggests either a stone that broke up, or fragments clearing after lithotripsy.

The signs that matter most are not about passage at all. Fever, chills, feeling generally unwell, or a marked drop in how much urine you produce are the signals that the situation has changed and that waiting should be reconsidered. Those are covered in detail in the final section.

What people often get wrong about passing a ureteral stone

Stone folklore is abundant, and some of it does harm.

Myth: the worse the pain, the bigger the stone. Pain tracks obstruction and spasm, not diameter. Tiny stones lodged at the tightest narrows can be excruciating; large stones that partially block flow can ache dully. Imaging, not pain, tells you the size.

Myth: no pain means the stone is gone. A stone can go quiet for days while still blocking the ureter, particularly once the kidney adjusts to the back-pressure. Silent obstruction is the outcome urologists most want to prevent, which is why follow-up imaging is scheduled regardless of symptoms.

Myth: drinking huge volumes will flush it out. Adequate hydration keeps urine flowing and prevents new stone growth, and Mayo Clinic’s guidance of roughly 2 to 3 quarts a day is sensible for most adults. Beyond that, extra water cannot push a stone through a channel it physically does not fit, and forcing fluids during vomiting is neither possible nor safe.

Myth: lemon juice or vinegar will dissolve it. Citrate in lemon can help prevent calcium stones from forming, but nothing you drink will dissolve a calcium oxalate stone already lodged in the ureter. Uric acid stones can sometimes be shrunk by making the urine less acidic, but that is a supervised medical strategy, not a kitchen remedy.

Myth: beer or cranberry juice helps. Alcohol dehydrates, and cranberry juice can raise oxalate levels. Neither has evidence for helping a stone pass.

Myth: once it passes, you are done. Roughly half of people who form one stone form another within several years without prevention measures, which is why the stone analysis and follow-up conversation matter as much as the passage itself.

Myth: a procedure means the stone was your fault. Stone lodging is decided by millimeters and anatomy. Choosing intervention when the odds are poor is good judgment, not defeat.

Questions to ask your care team

Renal colic is not a state in which anyone absorbs information well, so it helps to walk into the follow-up visit with a short list. These are the questions urologists say they wish more patients asked.

• Exactly how large is the stone on CT, and where in the ureter is it sitting: upper, middle or lower third?
• Based on that size and position, roughly what are the odds it will pass on its own, and over what time frame?
• Is there any sign the kidney is being harmed by the blockage right now, such as swelling on the scan or changes in my blood tests?
• Are you recommending a medication to help it pass? What does it do, what side effects should I watch for, and how long would I take it?
• What is our review date, what imaging will we use, and what result at that point would lead you to recommend a procedure?
• Which specific symptoms should bring me back before that date, and where should I go, day or night?
• If a procedure is needed, which one do you have in mind for this stone, and why that rather than the alternatives?
• Would a stent be placed, how long would it stay, and what does living with it feel like?
• Should I strain my urine, and if I catch the stone, how do I get it analyzed?
• What tests, if any, would you suggest afterward to understand why I formed this stone and lower the chance of another?

Bring a copy of your imaging report, a list of your medicines including any blood thinners, and a note of any prior stones, since previous stone type and behavior inform the plan. If English is not your first language or you process information better in writing, ask for the plan in writing; most teams are glad to provide it. The goal is a shared plan with a clear end date, and every one of these questions is a normal part of building it.

When to call your doctor

Watchful waiting is only safe with a clear understanding of when to stop watching. Contact your urologist or the emergency department without delay if any of the following occurs.

• Fever, shaking chills or a general sense of being unwell. Infection above an obstructing stone is a medical emergency, and hours matter.
• Pain that the prescribed medication no longer controls, or pain so severe that you cannot find any position of relief.
• Repeated vomiting that keeps you from holding down fluids or your medicines.
• Difficulty passing urine, a marked drop in how much you are producing, or no urine for many hours.
• Urine that is heavily bloody, with clots, rather than the pink tinge that is expected.
• You have only one functioning kidney, a kidney transplant, or you are pregnant, and any new symptom develops.
• Confusion, rapid breathing, a racing heart or feeling faint, which can signal infection spreading to the bloodstream.

After a procedure, the same rules apply, with a few additions: call if fever develops, if you cannot urinate, if pain from a stent becomes unmanageable, or if bleeding increases rather than fades over the first few days.

Call during office hours, rather than urgently, if your agreed review date is approaching and nothing has changed, if side effects from a medication are troubling you, or if you have caught the stone and want to arrange analysis. Do not stop or change any prescribed medicine on your own; raise concerns with the prescriber first.

The odds that a small, low stone will pass are genuinely good, and most people who wait do so uneventfully. But the entire strategy rests on the safety net being used. If something feels different from the pattern your team described, that alone is reason enough to pick up the phone. Every decision about continuing to wait, adding medication or moving to a procedure belongs to you and your treating team together, made with the facts of your stone in front of you.

Frequently asked questions

Will a 6 mm ureteral stone pass on its own?

It might, but the odds are closer to a coin toss than a certainty. Cleveland Clinic places stones of 4 to 6 mm at about a 60 percent chance of passing, with an average of about 45 days, and a 6 mm stone sits at the top of that band. Position matters: a distal 6 mm stone has better prospects than a proximal one. This is the size range where a supervised medication trial with a set review date is commonly discussed.

How long to pass a ureteral stone once symptoms start?

Anywhere from hours to several weeks. NHS guidance describes small stones typically passing within days to a few weeks, while Cleveland Clinic reports averages of about 31 days for stones under 4 mm and about 45 days for 4 to 6 mm stones. Your urologist will set a review point rather than an open-ended wait, since prolonged blockage can strain the kidney.

What are the signs a kidney stone is passing?

The most suggestive change is pain migrating from the flank toward the lower abdomen or groin, often with urgency and frequency as the stone nears the bladder. These observations are useful to report but do not confirm passage; only catching the stone or follow-up imaging does. A sudden lull in pain can also mean reduced urine flow on that side, so report changes rather than assuming.

What is the treatment for a stone stuck in the ureter?

Most stuck ureteral stones are treated by ureteroscopy, where a thin scope is passed up the ureter and the stone is removed or broken with a laser. Shock wave lithotripsy from outside the body is an alternative for suitable stones. If infection is present, a stent or nephrostomy drain is placed first. The choice depends on size, position, hardness and your health, and rests with your surgeon.

Does drinking more water help a ureteral stone pass?

Adequate hydration helps by keeping urine flowing and limiting new stone growth; Mayo Clinic suggests enough to keep urine nearly clear, roughly 2 to 3 quarts a day for most adults. Beyond that, extra water cannot force a stone through a channel it does not fit, and there is no benefit to drinking excessively. Follow any fluid limits your clinician has set for other conditions.

Why would my doctor prescribe an alpha blocker for a kidney stone?

Alpha blockers relax the smooth muscle in the lower ureter, slightly widening the channel and easing spasms so a stone can move. Evidence shows the clearest benefit for distal stones of roughly 5 to 10 mm; very small stones usually pass without help. Side effects can include dizziness on standing. Whether to use one, and for how long, is decided by the prescribing clinician.

Can a ureteral stone damage my kidney while I wait?

A healthy kidney tolerates partial, uncomplicated blockage for a period, which is why supervised waiting is standard. Risk rises with complete obstruction, infection, or a wait that stretches on without progress, because sustained pressure can begin to injure kidney tissue. That is the reason urologists set a firm review date with imaging and treat fever or falling kidney function as signals to act.

Is it normal to have no pain but still have the stone?

Yes, and it is one of the more misleading situations. A stone can lodge and go quiet for days as the kidney adjusts to the back-pressure, so absence of pain does not mean absence of stone. This is exactly why follow-up imaging is scheduled regardless of how you feel. Keep the appointment even if you are convinced it has passed.

Can I fly or travel while waiting for a stone to pass?

Discuss it with your urologist first. The main concern is an episode of severe colic, vomiting or infection far from care, not the flight itself. Some occupations, including pilots, may have rules requiring stone treatment before returning to duty. If you do travel, carry your imaging report and medication list, keep well hydrated, and know how to reach care at your destination.

What happens after the stone passes or is removed?

The next step is prevention. If you caught the stone, it is sent for analysis to identify its type; roughly four in five are calcium based, and each type calls for different dietary and fluid advice. Your team may suggest blood and urine tests. Without prevention measures, about half of people who form one stone form another within several years, so this conversation is worth having.

References

• Cleveland Clinic: Kidney Stones
• NHS: Kidney stones – Treatment
• MedlinePlus: Kidney stones
• NIH NIDDK: Treatment for Kidney Stones

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.