By Dr. C. Everett Koop Kidney stones tend to run in families and they affect many more men than women. People with gout, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease and chronic urinary tract infections are most likely to develop kidney stones. If the weather is hot, drink more than eight glasses of water to help replace the moisture your body loses through perspiration. Ask your doctor about prescribing drugs or changes in your diet. You experience waves of sharp pain in your side, back or abdomen.
Urination is difficult or painful.
You have blood in your urine. You develop fever with your symptoms. Many conditions and disorders can cause painful urination, but urinary tract infections are most often responsible. Though normal urine contains no bacteria, bacteria are always present on the skin around the genitals and in the anal area. Urinary tract infections occur when bacteria get into the urinary tract and travel up the urinary tube, or urethra, which connects the bladder to the outside of the body.