The intense pain of kidney stones sends most sufferers looking for emergency treatment. Home remedies for kidney stones, however, can make attacks much less painful and much less frequent. Before getting into the specifics of home renal calculi treatment, however, let's take a look at the disease process.
Kidney stones are crystalline precipitates of minerals in urine. They usually have sharp and irregular edges, so they cut into tissue as the pass out of the kidney into the bladder, and then out of the bladder through the urethra to exit the body. Smaller stones may not be even noticed, but larger stones can get "stuck" and cause excruciating pain.
Most stones are composed of a combination of oxalic acid, a chemical that is especially abundant in spinach (and, although relatively few people eat them, extremely concentrated in a vegetable called lamb's quarters), and calcium. These two chemicals ordinarily stay dissolved in the urine. Problems come about when dehydration causes a low flow of urine. This allows oxalic acid and calcium to concentrate and mix to form stones.
Another factor in the formation of kidney stones is infection with a microorganism called Proteus. These bacteria have "sticky" walls that cause them to form little strings in the urine. Calcium oxalate sticks to the strings of bacteria and becomes a stone.
At first the strings of oxalate form small brown or black stones look like seeds or berries. If the urine is extremely alkaline, them more calcium precipitates, too. The additional calcium gives stones a limestone-like appearance. As more and more calcium accumulates in the stones, they turn white, and they develop jagged edges.
When the urine is extremely alkaline, it can also precipitate a chemical called magnesium ammonium phosphate. This chemical form light brown elliptical stones that usually have a "staghorn" on one end. Ironically, following an alkalizing diet to prevent other health conditions is a major causes of kidney stones.
