Therapeutic options might include medication, rehydration, or, in some cases, surgery.Here’s what you must know about the various treatment options. Meet with your doctor to receive treatment for kidney stones or infections if they are the cause. These conditions may require antibiotics or other treatments. This is the area at the back of your abdomen, under your rib cage on both sides of your spine.
How Does Kidney Pain Feel Like?
However, severe or recurring kidney infections may need surgery or hospitalization. Surgery or medication may be needed in certain https://ecosoberhouse.com/ cases of liver disease. In cases of liver failure, a liver transplant might also be required. You may experience this pain as a dull ache or as an abrupt, sharp, stabbing pain.
Alcohol and Your Kidney Health: Here’s What to Know
These hormones help stimulate red blood cell growth and regulate blood pressure. Studies show that kidney-related problems caused by alcohol may resolve with four weeks of abstinence. While the kidneys can heal quite well once heavy alcohol use is removed, there may be situations where the stress is so great that it causes lasting damage.
Eating more fruits and vegetables may prevent chronic kidney disease
- Your kidneys constantly work to remove toxins from your blood and balance the amount of water in your body.
- When you have liver disease, your body doesn’t balance the flow and filtering of blood as well as it should.
- People who drink too much are more likely to have high blood pressure.
- Over time, this can impair kidney function and increase the risk of kidney problems.
- Our kidneys are vital to our survival, and luckily they are one of many paired organs and parts our bodies have, like our eyes, ears, testes/ovaries, lungs, limbs, adrenal glands, and more.
Rather than the type of beverage, it is the amount of alcohol that affects the kidneys, with binge or excessive drinking having the most impact. Without adequate blood flow, the kidneys struggle to remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood. The NKF explains that chronic drinking can cause Substance abuse liver disease, which impairs the rate of blood flow to the kidneys. This type of sudden-onset kidney damage often resolves with time, but it can be lasting in some cases. If you notice kidney pain after binge drinking, specific care measures can help while you await a check-in with a healthcare provider.
Chronic Drinking of Alcohol and Your Kidneys
Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it makes you urinate more often. This, in turn, can cause kidney pain as the kidneys struggle to filter concentrated urine. There are several different ways that using alcohol can lead to the development of kidney pain. Kidney pain caused by alcohol can be due to any of these causes or a combination of multiple kidney conditions. Acute kidney failure has a rapid onset and is most frequently caused by illnesses.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can develop from various causes, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and excessive alcohol intake. Regular, heavy alcohol use can also be harmful to your kidneys over time. According to the National Kidney Foundation, regular heavy drinking can double the risk of chronic kidney disease. The risk is even higher in people who drink heavily and also smoke. You may have kidney pain after drinking alcohol due to dehydration or inflammation of your stomach lining.
Renal Cell Carcinoma (Cancer of Kidney): Causes, Risk Factors, Symptoms, Stages, Treatment
Along with the condition of your kidneys, other health factors could play a role in this decision, including any medications you’re currently taking or your family medical history. Depending on the underlying cause, you can treat some kidney damage. You may feel flank pain and difficulty or discomfort during urination.
Standard treatments for kidney pain
Alcohol causes an initial dip in blood pressure that quickly elevates, leading to high blood pressure for several hours after drinking. Binge drinking can cause severe increases in blood pressure, while heavy drinking over time causes chronically high blood pressure. While data conclusively shows that chronic AUD is extremely damaging to the liver, data on the effects of alcohol on the kidneys is not quite as clear cut. For example, one study evaluated two measures of kidney failure in men who had consumed three or more drinks per day for more than five years. The men were found to have high levels of a protein called albuminuria in their urine, which is indicative of kidney failure. If you have UPJ obstruction, you may experience kidney pain after drinking alcohol.
The kidneys are essential in the urinary system, filtering about half alcohol and kidney pain a cup of blood per minute to remove waste and excess water through urine. Excessive alcohol intake can directly harm kidney cells, potentially leading to acute or chronic kidney failure. When kidneys aren’t working effectively, waste products build up in the body, resulting in pain and other serious complications. With chronic pancreatitis, you could lose the ability to produce or use insulin. This can result in diabetes, which increases your risk for kidney disease. Over time, high blood sugar levels can reduce your kidneys’ ability to function.
The kidneys are designed to retain water when dehydration occurs, but they cannot fully compensate when alcohol is still being used. Kidney pain treatments are almost always focused on treating the cause of the pain rather than just managing the pain itself. Chronic kidney pain is not normal, even in many of those who have serious kidney issues. Kidney pain might be intermittent or constant, and its intensity can range from mild to severe. It’s important to differentiate kidney pain from muscular, skeletal or other organ-related pains and to seek medical attention if you suspect the pain is related to your kidneys. Despite its popularity as a recreational drug, alcohol is a potent toxin.