Urinary calculus or Kidney stone also called as urothiasis or nephrolithiasia is one of the common diseases of the urinary system. It is the condition where stone-like deposit are formed in the urinary tract which are made up of crystalline minerals and salts. These can affect any part of the urinary tract. It can affect both male and females.
These kidney stones are caused due to the increased concentration of the urine which will lead to deposits formation. Diet, genetical factors and also environmental factors can lead to formation of different types of kidney stones. One of the main reason is dehydration, where there is low intake of water, dry climate, continuous exposure to sunlight etc., which leads to concentration of the urine and causes kidney stones. Other than this high salty diet, obesity, some other persisting diseases, and some medications can also cause these kidney stones.
kidney stone may pass through the urine stream if it is small in its size. If not, it will cause some serious symptoms and you will need to treat on time. This may cause severe pain which is sharp in nature on the sides of the stomach and back ( in the region where the kidneys are located), also this pain may radiates to groin area or lower abdominal area, but the intensity and the location of the pain may change due to the movement of the stone, pain while sitting, pain or burning sensation while passing urine, colour change in the urine along with cloudy appearance and foul smelling, urine pass along with blood, vomiting, nausea, severe urge for urination, frequent urination, passing small amount of urine several times, and also fever and chills may present if there is an infection.
Ayurveda has a variety of treatment protocols to treat these kidney stones. There are internal medications as well as external therapies. Internal medicines help to reduce the size of the stone and let the stone pass through the urinary stream itself. There are so many Kashaya consisting of ingredients that are highly effective in treating kidney stones like HogWeed (sarana), Bali Poovu (polphala/ thengai poo keerai), Land Caltrops (nerinchi), Country Mallow (athi bala), Heart leaved Moosed (rasakinda/seenthil) etc. Other than that, vati, guli, choorna, kalka etc are there to treat the kidney stone internally. Along with these, external treatments are also there. Lepa, sneha, sweda, pichu, vasti etc. Other than these there are so many natural Ayurvedic products available in the market which are easy to use.
As the kidney stones condition has the tendency of reoccurring , best thing to avoid that is to take preventive measures. Make sure to maintain adequate water intake, take boiled water of Land Caltrops (nerinchi), Balipoovu (polphala), HogWeed (sarana) etc.,take ash plantain (alu kesel) stem juice and pomegranate (delum) etc., Make sure to maintain adequate water intake, avoid excessive dehydration, take a diet low in salt, and do not suppress urges. Always give attention to your diet, water intake and also engage in physical excercises and mindfull practices as well. Balancing the physical, mental and spiritual states will also keep us healthier.
