The difference between kidney pain

As soon as you start to feel back pain, the first thing you probably think is that you have strained a muscle or hurt your back. However, doctors warn that in some cases, your back has nothing to do with it, but the unpleasant pain is caused by kidney problems.

Since the kidneys are located in the lower back area, most patients mistakenly confuse kidney pain with back pain, but these two types of pain have different causes and treatment methods.

While back pain is more often caused by some external phenomenon and can be easily removed, when it comes to kidney pain, the condition is usually much more serious, reports KP.

Doctors explain that pain in the kidneys is usually caused by inflammation or some more serious diseases that affect the kidneys. Back pain, on the other hand, is usually caused by tissue damage in the back. If you learn to distinguish between them, it can facilitate timely diagnosis and further treatment.

How to recognize kidney pain

Kidney pains are deep, stabbing, come on suddenly, and usually go away and come back. They most often appear at the highest levels of the spine and in the area below the ribs, adjacent to the spine, and the profession warns that sufferers can also feel them in the central part of the abdomen or groin. However, kidney pain usually includes other symptoms, says Dr. Rena D. Malik.

These symptoms are fever, vomiting and nausea, painful urination, cloudy or dark urine, and frequent urinary tract infections.

Unlike back pain, which in most cases goes away on its own, kidney pain generally won't get better until you identify and treat the underlying cause.

Possible causes

Your kidneys filter waste from your body, produce urine, and produce hormones that regulate the production of red blood cells.

Kidney pain is usually caused by diseases of the kidneys and other parts of the urinary system, and some of these causes include kidney stones, urinary retention, vesicoureteral reflux, kidney damage, and polycystic kidney disease. Each of these conditions requires treatment, otherwise more serious consequences such as kidney failure can occur.