There are several treatment options on offer to rid you of the excruciating kidney stone pain.

The most drastic of these is surgery, which, whilst effective in the removal of the stones, will do little to address the cause and thus prevent a most unwelcome return of the symptom.

Surgery will often be offered as an option if the stone is too large to pass of its own accord or is blocking the flow of urine from the kidney or if it is causing an infection.

Until about 20 years ago, surgery was the only treatment to remove a large stone. It was very invasive and required a recovery period of up to six weeks.

Nowadays, extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) is a frequent alternative to surgery. With this method, shockwaves are generated which travel through the body until they reach the denser material of the stones, where they shatter them into fine particles, which can easily be flushed out of the body.

This procedure is normally done on an out-patient basis and recovery only takes a few days. The side effects include bruising, minor discomfort and blood in the urine. To reduce this unwelcome sign, doctors usually recommend avoid taking Aspirin and other blood thinning medications.

Sometimes shock wave treatment can be used directly on a stone lodged in the ureter. This is achieved by passing a small fiberoptic device, called a ureterscope, through the urethra and bladder and on into the ureter. Here the stone can either be shattered at close quarters by a shock wave or captured and pulled down the ureter and out of the body.

Sometimes, because the stone is too large, neither of these methods are selected and the surgical removal option is used. This involves a tiny incision in the back, creating access to the kidney. Then, using a device called a nephroscope, the surgeon locates the stone and grabs the stone with the device. This allows removal of the stone. If the stone is particularly large shock, wave treatment might also be used.

This procedure involves a hospital stay of a few days, with the possibility of a drain tube inserted in the kidney, to assist clean healing.

Less drastic treatments can sometimes be obtained with pharmaceuticals, but it should be remembered these also are generally not without side effects. This can sometimes require even more medication to deal with these side effects.

The medication prescribed, depends on the type of stone:

Calcium stones: these account for about 85% of all kidney stones and can be caused by an excess of calcium in the bloodstream.

To combat this you may be prescribed a preparation containing phosphate or a thiazide diuretic, to combat the excess calcium.

Uric acid stones: The medication for the less common uric stones involves keeping the urine alkaline. For this a mild allopurinol preparation is used. In some cases this can be used to directly dissolve the uric stones.

Struvite stones: These are caused by infection in the urine. So, in addition to antibiotics the doctor may also prescribe acetohydroxamic acid.

Cystine stones: Fortunately, these stones are very rare and arise from an inherited condition. Cystine is an amino acid in protein that does not dissolve well. This condition