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The kidneys and the back can cause very similar pain but require very different treatments. Pain in the kidneys may indicate the need for treating kidney stones or an infection. A very similar pain in the back might be resolved with gentle exercise.
Professional medical and chiropractic treatment are usually the fastest way to overcome kidney or back pain. There are certain steps you can take at home, however, but before and after you visit your doctor.
Here are 10 more suggestions.
1. When life hands you back pain or kidney pain, drink lemonade. Lemon juice, and also lime juice, change the way calcium is released from bone so that bones are stronger and there is less calcium to form kidney stones.[8]
2. Drink eight glasses of water per day. The additional fluid keeps your kidneys flushed, and also hydrates muscles and ligaments that support your back. Do not, however, drink additional water when you are feeling bladder or kidney pain because a stone is blocking the flow of urine.
3. Consider a potassium-magnesium citrate supplement. Potassium-magnesium citrate can drastically reduce the rate at which kidney stones form, and can also strengthen bones. You should not take this supplement if you have kidney failure, or if you take an ACE inhibitor or ACE receptor blocker for high blood pressure.[9]
4. Drink mineral water. The magnesium in mineral water soothes muscle spasms, helps build bone, and stops formation of kidney stones.[10]
5. Avoid cranberry juice and extract unless you know your problem is a bladder or kidney infection. Cranberry juice, even if unsweetened, and cranberry extract both increase kidney stone formation.[11]
6. Drink milk. Milk provides both calcium and phosphate for bones, and reduces the formation of kidney stones made form calcium.[12]
7. Take vitamin B, especially B1 (thiamin), B6 (pyridoxine), and B12 (cobalamin). These three B vitamins make NSAID pain relievers like Aspirin, Ibuprofen, and Tylenol more effective in smaller doses. Lower doses of NSAID pain relievers are easier on the kidneys and also do less damage to the cartilage in the spine and in other joints throughout the body.[13]
8. Avoid citrus juices other than lemon and lime. Orange and grapefruit juices contain chemicals that increase the acidity of the urine, leaching away minerals that would be used to build new bone, making them available to create stones.[14]
9. Warm, moist heat, such as a hot water bottle, relieves both back pain and kidney pain.
10. Pursue a fulfilling sex life without addiction or preoccupation with sex. Traditional Chinese Medicine teaches that the lower back and the kidney are both repositories of the energy called "Jing," and depleting this energy—or failing to use it at all—can cause problems in both areas.
Especially in pregnant women, it is possible to have back problems and kidney problems simultaneously. Fortunately, both kinds of problems tend to resolve themselves when the baby is born.
When knee pain is also an issue, there is almost certainly an underlying health issue affecting all three ares of the body simultaneously, such as an autoimmune disease. Acupuncture and acupressure therapies for either back or kidney problems usually help both, treating autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, scleroderma, or Sjögren's syndrome, will also strengthen both kidneys and back.
Here are 10 more suggestions.
2. Drink eight glasses of water per day. The additional fluid keeps your kidneys flushed, and also hydrates muscles and ligaments that support your back. Do not, however, drink additional water when you are feeling bladder or kidney pain because a stone is blocking the flow of urine.
3. Consider a potassium-magnesium citrate supplement. Potassium-magnesium citrate can drastically reduce the rate at which kidney stones form, and can also strengthen bones. You should not take this supplement if you have kidney failure, or if you take an ACE inhibitor or ACE receptor blocker for high blood pressure.[9]
4. Drink mineral water. The magnesium in mineral water soothes muscle spasms, helps build bone, and stops formation of kidney stones.[10]
5. Avoid cranberry juice and extract unless you know your problem is a bladder or kidney infection. Cranberry juice, even if unsweetened, and cranberry extract both increase kidney stone formation.[11]
6. Drink milk. Milk provides both calcium and phosphate for bones, and reduces the formation of kidney stones made form calcium.[12]
7. Take vitamin B, especially B1 (thiamin), B6 (pyridoxine), and B12 (cobalamin). These three B vitamins make NSAID pain relievers like Aspirin, Ibuprofen, and Tylenol more effective in smaller doses. Lower doses of NSAID pain relievers are easier on the kidneys and also do less damage to the cartilage in the spine and in other joints throughout the body.[13]
8. Avoid citrus juices other than lemon and lime. Orange and grapefruit juices contain chemicals that increase the acidity of the urine, leaching away minerals that would be used to build new bone, making them available to create stones.[14]
9. Warm, moist heat, such as a hot water bottle, relieves both back pain and kidney pain.
10. Pursue a fulfilling sex life without addiction or preoccupation with sex. Traditional Chinese Medicine teaches that the lower back and the kidney are both repositories of the energy called "Jing," and depleting this energy—or failing to use it at all—can cause problems in both areas.
Especially in pregnant women, it is possible to have back problems and kidney problems simultaneously. Fortunately, both kinds of problems tend to resolve themselves when the baby is born.
When knee pain is also an issue, there is almost certainly an underlying health issue affecting all three ares of the body simultaneously, such as an autoimmune disease. Acupuncture and acupressure therapies for either back or kidney problems usually help both, treating autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, scleroderma, or Sjögren's syndrome, will also strengthen both kidneys and back.
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