Diagnosis
It is not always easy to diagnose kidney pain. If the pain persists over a longer period of time or is very severe, a doctor should be consulted. This doctor will usually first ask a few questions, for example whether the pain is unilateral or bilateral, when it occurs, how long it has existed and whether there are accompanying symptoms.
Then follows the physical examination, where, for example, attention is paid to a kidney knocking pain. Here the doctor strikes the kidney bearings with the edge of his hand and checks whether this is painful. If this is the case, it may indicate the presence of an inflammation of the kidney.
In addition, a rough examination of the spinal column and muscles is performed to determine whether there may actually be back pain or muscle pain that simulates kidney pain. Other possible examinations to find a diagnosis are a blood test, an ultrasound examination of the abdomen with assessment of the kidneys and possibly further imaging diagnostics such as magnetic resonance imaging. However, this is rarely used. Which might also be of interest to you: Differentiation between kidney pain and back pain
Associated symptoms
The accompanying symptoms of nocturnal kidney pain depend on the cause. If back pain is the triggering factor, limited mobility, pain intensification during certain movements and improvement during the course of the day may occur. If the kidney pain is based on an acute inflammation of the kidney, it often comes quickly to an increasing fatigue with fever and chills. If kidney stones are the cause, restlessness, nausea and vomiting as well as blood admixture to the urine are often added.
Kidney pain on the right
Kidney pain that really starts from the kidney often occurs only on one side. The cause is then however independent of which of the two kidneys is affected. There are thus no causes which specifically cause only right or only left-sided kidney pain.
Possible causes for unilateral, even nightly, kidney pain are for example kidney stones, an inflammation of the renal pelvis or a tumor of the kidney. In the case of malignant kidney tumors, however, pain usually only occurs in advanced stages. The causes of left-sided kidney pain are the same as for pain in the area of the right kidney.Bilateral nocturnal kidney pain on both sides of the body rarely indicates kidney disease.
Significantly more often, spinal complaints are the actual cause of the pain. These can be caused by poor posture or degenerative changes with age. Typical for spinal complaints caused by poor posture at night or a sagging mattress are complaints that subside in the course of the day.
Therapeutically, heat applications, physiotherapy and a change of mattress are possible. Diseases that originate from the kidney itself are usually unilateral and are therefore usually accompanied by unilateral kidney pain. Kidney pain, which occurs mainly when lying down and at night, indicates with relatively high probability that the spine or muscles are affected.
The spinal column can be affected from the cervical spine to the lumbar spine. If the pain is deep-seated, the lumbar spine is usually affected. The cause of pain, especially at night, can be a wrong mattress or lying on the wrong side of the bed.
Muscle pain in the sense of tension can also be the cause of nocturnal pain in the kidney area, which mainly occurs when lying down. Often spinal pain automatically leads to muscle tension, a vicious circle that can sometimes only be broken by consistent physiotherapy. Nocturnal kidney pain that occurs during pregnancy usually has the same causes as in non-pregnant women.
However, another cause can be a compression of the urinary tract in advanced pregnancy. This means that the uterus, which is constantly enlarging during pregnancy, can press on the urinary tract and thus affect the flow of urine from the kidney to the bladder. This can cause urine to back up into the renal pelvis, which can then cause pain. However, this cause of kidney pain is rather rare. Usually during pregnancy – if at all – there is only a slight accumulation in the area of the draining urinary tract, which is usually not painful.