Kidney pain

Kidney Pain

Kidney pain is felt in your sides, back, belly, or groin.

Causes

• Kidney stones
• Injury or trauma
• Kidney (renal) cancer
• Urinary retention
• Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR)
• Ureteral stricture
• Kidney infection (pyelonephritis): Symptoms include fever, chills, back or side pain, and nausea and vomiting.
• Polycystic kidney disease

Kidney pain vs. back pain

Back pain usually affects the middle of your back, over your spine, and most commonly in the lower back. Spine-related issues can also cause back pain to sometimes radiate down your legs.

Kidney pain is typically located higher on your back and often feels deeper. Most of the time, kidney pain symptoms occur under your ribs, to the right or left of your spine. Kidney pain may also radiate to other areas, such as your abdomen or groin. Sometimes, hip pain is confused with kidney pain, but hip pain is lower down in your back than kidney pain.

Common signs and symptoms

• A constant, dull ache in your back
• Pain in your sides, under your rib cage, or in your abdomen
• Severe or sharp pain that comes in waves
• Pain that spreads to your groin area
• Kidney pain is often accompanied by nausea or vomiting, especially if the pain is due to kidney stones.
• Oddly colored urine
• Pain when urinating
• Blood in urine

Investigations

• Urinalysis
• Ultrasound
• CT scan

Treatment

Treatment depends on the condition causing it. For example, if you have kidney pain due to an infection, your healthcare provider will prescribe antibiotics. If you have kidney pain due to stones, then you may need treatment to remove them.