Kidney pain with cold

Kidney pain, which occurs in the context of a cold, is often not a real kidney pain. Rather, it is back pain or muscular pain in the sense of a slight muscle ache, for example after a long cough. If it really is kidney pain, it probably has a different cause than the cold, for example a bladder infection.

Kidney pain at night

Nightly kidney pain is not a specific symptom. Often, pain in the spine area can be misinterpreted as kidney pain. If severe nocturnal pain in the kidney area occurs repeatedly, a doctor should be consulted for further diagnosis.

Kidney pain in the morning

Kidney pain in the morning is no more than nightly kidney pain, a symptom that is indicative of a certain disease. Often it is actually not kidney pain, but back pain caused by lying down at night.

Kidney pain due to painkillers

Some women describe kidney pain that they would have felt in early pregnancy. It is not clear why this symptom occurs.

Causes of kidney pain

Regardless of whether the pain is in the left or right kidney, it can be an indication of various diseases. Kidney pain is a relatively specific symptom; this means that pain in the kidney area can often also indicate a process in the kidney or in the efferent urinary tract. Back pain can also cause pain in the kidney area, which could then be misinterpreted as “real” kidney pain.

This could be caused, for example, by slight bony malpositions of the spinal column, degenerative changes or muscle tension. It is therefore important to consider back pain when looking for a cause of existing kidney pain. There are a few clues that can help with this question: If the suspicion of kidney disease cannot be ruled out, kidney related causes must be considered.

For example, back pain is indicated when the pain increases with movement,
Kidney pain, on the other hand, is indicated by a so-called “kidney bed knocking pain”: this means that tapping the kidney bed (on the left and right of the spine about two to three fingers wide above the palpable iliac crest) increases or triggers the pain.

The most common cause of pain in the area of a kidney is kidney stones. These occur in about 4% of the population in Germany, mainly between the ages of 35 and 65. They are more common in men than in women.

Kidney stones are small accumulations of substances in the urine, which are noticed either in the area of the kidney or only in the area of the ureters, because they are too large to be excreted unhindered with the urine. The most common type of kidney stones are calcium oxalate stones. Kidney stones or ureteral stones typically cause so-called colicky pain.

The pain floods in waves, gets stronger and stronger and then floods away again, usually followed by a break in pain. Depending on the location of the stone, the pain tends to radiate into the kidney area or into the flanks, into the groin or, in the case of very deep-seated stones, into the genital region. Pain in the crotch may also be accompanied by pain when urinating.

Nausea and vomiting are also common symptoms of ureteral stones. During colic, painkillers are administered which, if possible, also reduce the wall tension of the ureter and thus also reduce pain. Novalgin® is ideally suited for this purpose.

Depending on the size and location, kidney stones can be treated conservatively, i.e. we wait until the stone comes off by itself, i.e. is excreted. This is possible with stones of a size up to about 5 mm.

The patient should move and drink a lot to stimulate the excretion. If this does not succeed or if the stone is larger, various procedures can be used, which aim at crushing the stone and then removing it. Another important cause of (unilateral or bilateral) kidney pain is the inflammation of the renal pelvis (pyelonephritis), which usually arises from cystitis.

Bladder and renal pelvic inflammation is particularly common in women, as the female urethra is much shorter than the male. The cause of the inflammation is usually a colonization of the urinary tract with bacteria. The pain here is not colicky as with kidney stones but rather permanent and increasing.

Common accompanying symptoms are: If in the recent past also a cystitis with typical symptoms like: it is very likely that an inflammation of the renal pelvis is the cause of the kidney pain.

High fever,
Chills
And severe illness.
Pain when urinating,
Frequent urge to urinate
And possibly dark-colored, strongly smelling urine existed,

Kidney cancer can also cause pain, but is more likely to be in an advanced stage. In the early stages, blood in the urine and physical exhaustion are more common as signs.

In addition, weight loss is more common. So if there is only kidney pain without the other symptoms described, kidney cancer is rather unlikely. In summary, pain in the kidney area can be an indication of various clinical pictures.Therefore, it is important to look at other symptoms such as fever or blood in the urine and the diagnostic examination.

If the kidney pain occurs together with other symptoms or lasts for several days, a visit to a doctor is recommended. The family doctor can assess the clinical picture and initiate therapy or, if necessary, refer you directly to a urologist. As with all diagnoses, the history of kidney pain is the first step: the main thing is to find out whether the kidney is painful.

This is supplemented by a blood and urine examination and imaging procedures. In case of kidney pain, the inflammation parameters (white blood cells, CRP) are determined in the blood to see whether there is an inflammation in the body. In addition, the kidney specific values (urea, uric acid and creatinine) are also important, as this allows the doctor to see whether there has been any impairment of kidney performance.

The urine is examined for blood, bacteria, white blood cells (leukocytes) and the pH value (acidity of the urine). In addition, a urine culture can be made (if a urinary tract infection is suspected). Should bacteria be the cause of the symptoms, they would be detectable by this.

The most important imaging procedure performed for kidney pain is the ultrasound of the kidneys including the urinary tract. An experienced examiner can thus already recognize the most important clinical pictures completely free of radiation. If the ultrasound examination does not provide an exact diagnosis, x-rays of the abdomen, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used.

In case of special problems, an excretory urography (to determine the residual urine volume and visualize the urinary tract) or a ureterorenoscopy (ureterorenoscopy) and a cystoscopy of the bladder can be performed.

How long the symptoms have been present,
With which other symptoms they are associated
And what character the pain has.

The following are some examples of the most common diseases that can cause kidney pain and the respective diagnostic method:

Inflammation of the renal pelvis is diagnosed on the basis of the inflammation values in the blood, the urinalysis (detection of bacteria and leucocytes) and the ultrasound, sometimes in combination with computer tomography.
Stones can be found by ultrasound, X-ray of the abdomen or excretory urography.
Kidney trauma is best diagnosed with ultrasound, x-ray, CT and excretory urography.
Kidney cancer is mainly diagnosed by ultrasound, x-ray CT and by laboratory tests.
Stenosis can be detected in ultrasound by urinary tract dilatation due to urinary stasis. In addition, a scintigraphy of the kidneys is performed in case of kidney pain, whereby the excretion capacity of the kidneys is measured in a side-by-side comparison. In case of side differences, a narrowing can be concluded in combination with other diagnostic procedures.
Diagnosis of urinary reflux is mainly based on ultrasound, cystoscopy and micturition cystourethrography, whereby contrast medium is injected into the bladder and the orifice of the ureter and micturation are assessed.
Computer tomography and angiography (vascular imaging) are the main methods used to detect a renal infarction.