Kidney pain with a cold

Definition

Kidney pain is actually not a typical symptom of a cold. However, some people report that they sometimes feel pain in the right and/or left kidney area during a cold. This pain does not necessarily have to be real kidney pain.

It can also be pain in the limbs, for example. Other possible causes are listed below. It is important to consult a physician if pain persists in the area of one or both kidneys in order to have the symptoms clarified, since kidney pain can also indicate potentially dangerous diseases such as inflammation of the renal pelvis (pyelonephritis). In most cases, however, only one side is affected. The accompanying symptoms of inflammation of the renal pelvis are often high fever and chills.

Causes

As already briefly mentioned above, kidney pain is rather untypical in a normal cold. Especially when it hurts on both sides where the kidneys are suspected to be, it is usually something different. For example, the pain in the limbs that is relatively typical for a cold.

Sore muscles (whether caused by previous sports or by constant coughing during the cold) can also cause pain in the muscles of the lower back or the lateral abdominal wall. Even a simple cystitis can sometimes cause pain in the area of the flanks (flank pain). A common cause of pain in the lower back area is simple back pain, for example due to incorrect weight bearing, poor posture or degenerative processes in old age.

If the pain really comes from the kidney or the ureters, in most cases it is kidney stones. However, pain from kidney stones is usually only found on one side. They can be localized in the flank but also in the groin area.

The pain can wander. This is because the stone also migrates slowly through the urinary tract. Also an inflammation of the renal pelvis can be the cause of kidney pain.

Also here it is mostly a one-sided pain. Typical is the so-called kidney bearing knocking pain, which means that already when you carefully knock on the area of the flank where the affected kidney is located, it is very painful. Often, this illness is accompanied by fever and chills, and a doctor should definitely be consulted.