According to my Taber’s Medical dictionary, 19th Edition I was referred to “Calculus, Renal”.
A calculus (kăl’ku-lus) pl. (calculi) (L., pebble) is defined as any abnormal concretion, commonly called a stone, within the animal body. It is usually composed of mineral salts. These pathological concretions can occur in the gallbladder, kidneys, ureters, bladder, or urethra, and are usually formed of crystalline urinary salts held together by viscid organic matter.
Etiology (cause of a disease): Renal calculi can be caused by abnormal function of the parathyroid glands, disordered uric acid metabolism as in gout, or excessive intake of milk, oxalates, and alkali. The cause of many kidney stones is unknown (idiopathic).
The latter statement is Western medicine’s perception. In Chinese medicine renal colic is normally caused by Dampness and Heat accumulation over a long period of time, which is the root cause, and treatment is directed toward spreading and draining the contents of the water passageways by eliminating the Dampness and Heat.
Renal Calculi in the kidney may block urine flow. If the ureter is blocked by the stone, there is sudden, severe, and paroxysmal renal colic often with chills, fever, hematuria (blood in the urine), and frequency of urination. If stones do not pass spontaneously, they should be removed. Several female patients have said that the pain associated with their kidney stones is a “walk in the park” compared to child birth. Ouch!!!
The calculi can form and/or become obstructive in several different locations within the urinary system. The diagram on the right shows them in the kidney, ureter, bladder and urethra. Since the structure of the kidney is microscopic it does not take a very large foreign granule to wreak havoc, a.k.a. excruciating pain.
I apologise to the patient who was my first encounter with acute kidney stones. As a recent graduate my skill set was limited to doing my best to relieve his pain and shipping him off to a urologist to have his stone ultrasonically blasted or lithotripsy (LITH-oh-trip-see) – a procedure he later described as how he imagined it probably felt to be kicked in the kidney area with a steel toed boot.
The good news is there is a much better method using a combination of herbs and acupuncture. The Hu Po Hua Shi Pian or Amber Stone-Transforming herbal formula was created by Jake Paul Fratkin, OMD, based on current research in China regarding the dissolution of kidney and bladder stones. This amazing combination can dissolve the stone enough to allow passage at the same time as it can arrest any bleeding caused by lesions and it also has a natural antiseptic effect to avoid infection. Specific acupuncture points are used to dilate and relax the ureter and the urethra to allow easier passage and to energetically encourage the body to expel the stones.
Using this technique patients are usually pain free by the end of their treatment and pass their “gravel” within 24 hours. I usually recommend that they book a follow-up ultrasound to confirm the cleansing and then they can use the herbal formula as required to prevent a recurrence.
I recently treated a young female who had been experiencing chronic renal calculi for over ten years. She was also very concerned about receiving acupuncture which created a special challenge for me as to insure success the points usually have to be given fairly strong stimulation. As an alternative plan, she started on a therapeutic dosage of the herbs the day before we scheduled her treatment, and by being very focused on the procedure I was able to use gentle stimulation with acupuncture. Her pain level reduced from ten/ten down to a two/ten level and she passed her stones within a day.