The shock waves break a large stone into small stones that will pass through your urinary system with your urine. The method does not require cutting open the body. Two types of shock wave machines exist. With one machine, you sit in a tub of water. With the other type of machine, you lie on a table.
Doctors often call it ESWL for short.
Lithotripsy is a Greek word that means stone crushing. In this method, the doctor makes a small cut into the patient's back and makes a narrow tunnel through the skin to the stone inside the kidney. With a special instrument that goes through the tunnel, the doctor can find the stone and remove it. The doctor inserts it into the patient's urethra, passes it up through the bladder, and directs it to the ureter where the stone is located. The ureteroscope has a camera that allows the doctor to see the stone.