The first step in preventing kidney stones is to understand what is causing the stones to form. The health care provider may ask the person to try to catch the kidney stone as it passes, so it can be sent to a lab for analysis. Stones that are retrieved surgically can also be sent to a lab for analysis.
                
The health care provider may ask the person to collect urine for 24 hours after a stone has passed or been removed to measure daily urine volume and mineral levels. Producing too little urine or having a mineral abnormality can make a person more likely to form stones. Kidney stones may be prevented through changes in eating, diet, and nutrition and medications.
                
Eating, Diet, and Nutrition
                
People can help prevent kidney stones by making changes in their fluid intake. Depending on the type of kidney stone a person has, changes in the amounts of sodium, animal protein, calcium, and oxalate consumed can also help.
                
Drinking enough fluids each day is the best way to help prevent most types of kidney stones. Health care providers recommend that a person drink 2 to 3 liters of fluid a day. People with cystine stones may need to drink even more. Though water is best, other fluids may also help prevent kidney stones, such as orange juice or lemonade. Talk with your health care provider if you cant drink the recommended amount due to other health problems, such as urinary incontinence, urinary frequency, or kidney failure.
                
Recommendations based on the specific type of kidney stone include the following:
                
Calcium Oxalate Stones
                
- reducing sodium  - reducing animal protein, such as meat, eggs, and fish  - getting enough calcium from food or taking calcium supplements with food  - avoiding foods high in oxalate, such as spinach, rhubarb, nuts, and wheat bran
                
Calcium Phosphate Stones
                
- reducing sodium  - reducing animal protein  - getting enough calcium from food or taking calcium supplements with food
                
Uric Acid Stones
                
- limiting animal protein
                
More information about how changes in diet affect kidney stone formation is provided in the NIDDK health topic, Diet for Kidney Stone Prevention.
                
Medications
                
The health care provider may prescribe certain medications to help prevent kidney stones based on the type of stone formed or conditions that make a person more prone to form stones:
                
- hyperuricosuriaallopurinol (Zyloprim), which decreases uric acid in the blood and urine  - hypercalciuriadiuretics, such as hydrochlorothiazide  - hyperoxaluriapotassium citrate to raise the citrate and pH of urine  - uric acid stonesallopurinol and potassium citrate  - cystine stonesmercaptopropionyl glycine, which decreases cystine in the urine, and potassium citrate  - struvite stonesantibiotics, which are bacteria-fighting medications, when needed to treat infections, or acetohydroxamic acid with long-term antibiotic medications to prevent infection
                
People with hyperparathyroidism sometimes develop calcium stones. Treatment in these cases is usually surgery to remove the parathyroid glands. In most cases, only one of the glands is enlarged. Removing the glands cures hyperparathyroidism and prevents kidney stones.