How do I know if I have back pain or kidney pain?

Back problems usually affect your lower back. Kidney pain is felt higher and deeper in your body than back pain. You may feel it in the upper half of your back, not the lower part. Unlike back discomfort, it's felt on one or both sides, usually under your rib cage.

How do I know if my back pain is kidney related?

What does back pain caused by kidneys feel like?

Kidney pain — also called renal pain — refers to pain from disease or injury to a kidney. You might feel kidney pain or discomfort as a dull, one-sided ache in your upper abdomen, side or back.

How can I check my kidneys at home?

What are the first signs of kidney problems?

Could your back pain be KIDNEYS?

What part of your back hurts when your kidneys are bothering you?

You feel kidney pain in the area where your kidneys are located: Near the middle of your back, just under your ribcage, on each side of your spine. Your kidneys are part of the urinary tract, the organs that make urine (i.e., pee) and remove it from your body.

When should I be worried about back pain?

Seek emergency medical care

Call 911 or emergency medical help or have someone drive you to the emergency room if your back pain: Occurs after a trauma, such as a car crash, bad fall or sports injury. Causes new bowel or bladder control problems. Occurs with a fever.

What does kidney infection pain feel like?

You can feel feverish, shivery, sick and have a pain in your back or side. In addition to feeling unwell like this, you may also have symptoms of a urinary tract infection (UTI) such as cystitis. These include: needing to pee suddenly or more often than usual.

Does kidney pain feel like a pulled muscle?

What Type of Pain Is It? Pain due to renal stones is really sharp whereas that due to a muscle ache or a back spasm is a dull, throbbing one. In case of an injured or irritated nerve, the pain is a sharp, searing feeling running down the back and may travel down to your hips and legs.

Does kidney pain come and go?

The pain can be sharp or a dull ache, and it may come and go. It's usually worse on one side, but it can occur on both flanks. Problems in the kidney (such as an infection or a kidney stone) are common causes of flank pain.

Can lower back pain be confused with kidney problems?

People commonly think their back pain comes from their kidney. But it's more likely that your discomfort is due to muscle spasm or strain or a spine-related problem. The kidneys are located higher than most people realize (see image).

When should you go to the ER for kidney pain?

Seek emergency care if you develop sudden, severe kidney pain, with or without blood in your urine.

How do you rule out a kidney infection?

To check for a kidney infection, you may be asked to provide a urine sample to test for bacteria, blood or pus in your urine. Your health care provider might also take a blood sample for a culture. A culture is a lab test that checks for bacteria or other organisms in your blood.

How long can you have a kidney infection before noticing?

The symptoms of a kidney infection usually develop quite quickly over a few hours or days. Common symptoms include: pain and discomfort in your side, lower back or around your genitals. high temperature (it may reach 39.5C or 103.1F)

How long is too long for back pain?

While some back pain is only mild to moderate, severe back pain is when your pain is constant, intense or gets worse when you're resting or at night. 2. Your pain is persistent. If your back pain lasts longer than three months, it's considered chronic and may require a tailored treatment plan.

How can you tell if back pain is muscular or something else?

A dull ache when you move

A pulled muscle would not feel hot, tingling, or electric like an irritated nerve root would. The pain would only subside while you are relaxed and resting, as the tension and spasms are alleviated. However, the pain would most likely flare up when you get up to move again.

Why is back pain at night a red flag?

Back pain red flags – Night Pain

Back pain that worsens at night or while you're sleeping might indicate something more severe like an infection or cancer. This is especially true if you also have other symptoms in addition to your back discomfort when you sleep or relax.

Does kidney back pain hurt with movement?

If it's a backache, a change of position may momentarily alleviate the pain. With kidney stones, the pain won't disappear when you move, and some positions may even make it worse.

How do I get rid of kidney back pain?

How does the ER check your kidneys?

In the emergency department (ED), it is common to obtain blood tests as part of a patient's evaluation. A routine part of this analysis is to check kidney function, and we do this by testing for levels of 'creatinine' (abbreviated as Cr).

Is kidney pain constant?

Kidney pain is usually sharp if you have a kidney stone and a dull ache if you have an infection. Most often it will be constant. It won't get worse with movement or go away by itself without treatment. If you're passing a kidney stone, the pain may fluctuate as the stone moves.

What are the 5 most common symptoms of kidney stones?

Signs and symptoms of kidney stones can include severe pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, chills and blood in your urine.

How long should you leave kidney pain?

Most people who are diagnosed and treated promptly with antibiotics feel completely better after about 2 weeks. People who are older or have underlying conditions may take longer to recover. If your symptoms show no sign of improvement 24 hours after treatment starts, contact a GP for advice.

Does kidney pain go away while resting?

The pain goes away when you rest. The most common cause of kidney pain is from kidney stones, and this will not improve when you lie down and rest. Similarly, any symptoms of kidney inflammation or kidney failure will not let up with rest.