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Kidney Stones Essay

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Out of every thousand people in the United States, one person can say that they have experienced one of the most painful episodes one can go through. Some have said that compared to this, pregnancy is easy. Over half a million people will experience kidney stones this year, and a third of them will be hospitalized.

Kidney stones are hard, crystalline deposits in the kidney. They are usually hexagonal, eighty percent of which are made of calcium. These calcium stones are two to three times more common in men, and are most likely to reoccur. The calcium oxalate versions most likely result from eating specific food. One percent of stones are cystine stones, which have to do with …show more content…

Luckily, after the excruciating occurrence, the stone usually doesn’t damage anything. Sometimes there comes a situation where the kidney stone either becomes too big or for some reason gets wedged in the urinary tract and the pain worsens. Also, the urine begins to get backed up, and the bladder and urinary tract begins to get infected. Thus, an operation must be performed. Originally, they were removed, either by slicing the bladder or kidney open, or by shoving an instrument up the ureter. Fortunately, through the miracles of technology, one does not necessarily have to go through this “invasive” treatment. Instead, there is a treatment that uses shockwaves to slice up the stone. This is called kidney stone lithotripsy. A large machine uses sound waves to break up the stone into small fragments that can be more easily passed through.

Lithotripsy can be administered in two different ways. One is a large bed in which you are immersed in water and hundreds of sound waves hit the stone over a period of an hour. It is so loud that you must wear earphones, but it is not painful because your body has the same properties as water, sound wise. Afterward, one should walk around and drink plenty of water. Another way is a small instrument with an ultrasound-producing end, which is shoved into you, and enters the bladder through

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