Health 30.07.20

What are Bladder Stones?

Bladder stones are hard lumps of minerals that can form inside the bladder when it’s not completely empty of urine. They may not cause any symptoms if they’re small enough to be passed out of the bladder when you pee.

But most people with bladder stones do experience symptoms because the stones either irritate the wall of the bladder or block the flow of urine.

What are the Symptoms of Bladder Stones?

Typical symptoms of bladder stones include:

Lower abdominal pain which can often be severe
Pain or difficulty when urinating
Urinating more frequently (particularly at night)
Cloudy/dark urine
Blood in the urine

Most cases of bladder stones affect men aged 50 or older because of the link with prostate enlargement. But both men and women can get bladder stones.

When to See a Doctor

It is important that you see your GP if you experience any of the symptoms listed in this article, particularly if you have persistent abdominal pain, need to wee more often, or have blood in your urine. Please note that these symptoms may not necessarily be caused by bladder stones, but need to be investigated further.

How are Bladder Stones Diagnosed?

If your GP suspects you have bladder stones, you’ll be referred to hospital for an X-ray of your bladder (this will be if your blood tests come back negative). Not all types of bladder stones show up clearly on X-rays, so a negative X-ray result doesn’t always mean that you don’t have bladder stones.

An ultrasound scan can be used instead of an X-ray, in addition bladder stones can also be identified using a cystoscopy.

What Causes Bladder Stones?

Bladder stones usually form when you can’t completely empty your bladder of urine. A common reason for this in men is having an enlarged prostate gland that blocks the flow of urine. If urine sits in the bladder for a long time, chemicals in the urine form crystals, which harden into bladder stones.

Treating Bladder Stones

Surgery is usually needed to remove the stones from the bladder. The most common procedure is a cystolitholapaxy, where a thin tube (cystoscope) with a camera at the end is used to find the bladder stones.

The cystoscope will then use stone-crushing devices, lasers or ultrasound to break up the stones before they’re removed.

Where possible, it’s important to treat the underlying causes of bladder stones to prevent new stones developing in the future.

Preventing Bladder Stones

If you have had bladder stones, they can come back. There are things you can do to try to prevent this happening.

You can try to:

increase your daily fluid intake to 2 to 3 litres to lower the concentration of your urine
regularly empty your bladder without delaying
urinate again 10 to 20 seconds after your first attempt (if you’re unable to empty your bladder completely first time); this is called double voiding and helps empty the bladder more efficiently
avoid constipation (regular laxatives may be recommended)

Who Are RXLive Online Pharmacy?

To get your prescription delivered completely free, all you have to do is sign-up to the service here – it takes less than 1 minute! Once you have been approved as an RXLive patient, you can use the online ordering platform to order your prescription with just a few clicks. Then, you can sit back and relax, our dedicated pharmacy team will prepare your order and have your medication sent out within 48 hours. RXLive also have dedicated pharmacists ready to chat at all times.

Please note, RXLive is growing exceptionally fast as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are dispensing and dispatching medicine, but our team is very busy so please bear with us. It may take up to 48 hours longer for your medicine to arrive. Please only contact us if your query is urgent during this time. Due to some stock shortages, we are shipping orders even if an item is missing, you will get an owing note and receive any items out of stock once it arrives.

Health 30.07.20

What are Bladder Stones?