This is really great news. I've never had a problem with kidney stones, but my son did when he was around 15 years old. We went to the emergency room thinking it might have been kidney stones, but...
This is really great news. I've never had a problem with kidney stones, but my son did when he was around 15 years old. We went to the emergency room thinking it might have been kidney stones, but really just knowing our kid was in severe pain. Basically they confirmed it was kidney stones and then sent us home with some pain meds and basically just said to "deal with it.". This procedure would have been fantastic.
BTW, that visit to the ER ended up costing us around $2K. The one problem with this procedure is that they'll charge another $2K and the visit will cost me $4K.
I've had one kidney stone, and it took me eight days to pass. Truly it was the worst pain I have ever experienced. Ended up in the ER twice because of problems managing the pain. All I wanted was...
I've had one kidney stone, and it took me eight days to pass. Truly it was the worst pain I have ever experienced. Ended up in the ER twice because of problems managing the pain. All I wanted was for the pain to end and when it got really bad, I was barely rational. The IV dilaudid was like a warm blanket, and I understood for the first time what a powerful and dangerous thing the opioid painkillers are. Although with constipation induced by the hydrocodone was almost as bad.
If this intervention could be done immediately, it would be amazing.
Oh god, yes. I've dealt with 3 kidney stone episodes (the uric acid kind from imbibing too much soda and sugar in general, drink water instead, kids). The first one was a giant wtf is happening...
Ultrasonic propulsion is then used to move the stone fragments out, potentially giving patients relief in 10 minutes or less.
Oh god, yes.
I've dealt with 3 kidney stone episodes (the uric acid kind from imbibing too much soda and sugar in general, drink water instead, kids).
The first one was a giant wtf is happening moment as I just assumed I had been poisoned and was now quickly dying from the inside. The other two were more of a "god damnit, here we go again" thing, but still super painful and requiring medication at the hospital. I had always assumed the pain people spoke about was from peeing the stones out, but no, it's from the stone's merry jaunt from kidney to urinary bladder via the criminally narrow smooth muscle tube connecting the two organs known as the 'ureter'.
If you've never had kidney stones, congrats and I hope it stays that way forever. The pain makes it so that there's literally no comfortable -- or bearable -- position you can contort your body into. The only thing I've ever found to bring me any semblance of relief is standing under a hot shower with good water pressure for hours -- electric bill be damned. Also, kidney stones are the reason I will never own a firearm -- your mind goes places when you're in the thick of it.
Anyways, it's comforting to know that in a few years this treatment should be widely available in office settings for anyone with the misfortune of experiencing this horrible affliction.
other than ultrasound to shove the fragments down, lithotripsy is not new. I was about to get lithotropsy 2 years ago for my 5mm stone but after giving me all the fun drugs, they found the stone...
other than ultrasound to shove the fragments down, lithotripsy is not new.
I was about to get lithotropsy 2 years ago for my 5mm stone but after giving me all the fun drugs, they found the stone had moved between my pelvis and couldn't get to it with the wand. (without potentially damaging my pelvis/spine) So I can got discharged and had to pee it out.... which was not painful at all, just weird.
Great news for stone sufferers! I have no comment on the breakthrough. I would like to harp a little about the cliche in the headline though. What "game" exactly is being changed? The game of...
Great news for stone sufferers! I have no comment on the breakthrough.
I would like to harp a little about the cliche in the headline though. What "game" exactly is being changed? The game of pissing pain-free? Even if it's a direct quote as the punctuation suggests, that trite nonsense should never have made it to the headline. The editors should be ashamed.
“Game changer” is a very common phrase in (at least US) English. Grammarist has a nice write up on it. While it may have originally referring to games of sport, it has long since evolved to refer...
“Game changer” is a very common phrase in (at least US) English. Grammarist has a nice write up on it. While it may have originally referring to games of sport, it has long since evolved to refer to “ anything from a person to an idea or event that radically changes how something’s done or thought about“. In this case, a significant improvement in treatment of kidney stones.
This is really great news. I've never had a problem with kidney stones, but my son did when he was around 15 years old. We went to the emergency room thinking it might have been kidney stones, but really just knowing our kid was in severe pain. Basically they confirmed it was kidney stones and then sent us home with some pain meds and basically just said to "deal with it.". This procedure would have been fantastic.
BTW, that visit to the ER ended up costing us around $2K. The one problem with this procedure is that they'll charge another $2K and the visit will cost me $4K.
I've had one kidney stone, and it took me eight days to pass. Truly it was the worst pain I have ever experienced. Ended up in the ER twice because of problems managing the pain. All I wanted was for the pain to end and when it got really bad, I was barely rational. The IV dilaudid was like a warm blanket, and I understood for the first time what a powerful and dangerous thing the opioid painkillers are. Although with constipation induced by the hydrocodone was almost as bad.
If this intervention could be done immediately, it would be amazing.
Oh god, yes.
I've dealt with 3 kidney stone episodes (the uric acid kind from imbibing too much soda and sugar in general, drink water instead, kids).
The first one was a giant wtf is happening moment as I just assumed I had been poisoned and was now quickly dying from the inside. The other two were more of a "god damnit, here we go again" thing, but still super painful and requiring medication at the hospital. I had always assumed the pain people spoke about was from peeing the stones out, but no, it's from the stone's merry jaunt from kidney to urinary bladder via the criminally narrow smooth muscle tube connecting the two organs known as the 'ureter'.
If you've never had kidney stones, congrats and I hope it stays that way forever. The pain makes it so that there's literally no comfortable -- or bearable -- position you can contort your body into. The only thing I've ever found to bring me any semblance of relief is standing under a hot shower with good water pressure for hours -- electric bill be damned. Also, kidney stones are the reason I will never own a firearm -- your mind goes places when you're in the thick of it.
Anyways, it's comforting to know that in a few years this treatment should be widely available in office settings for anyone with the misfortune of experiencing this horrible affliction.
other than ultrasound to shove the fragments down, lithotripsy is not new.
I was about to get lithotropsy 2 years ago for my 5mm stone but after giving me all the fun drugs, they found the stone had moved between my pelvis and couldn't get to it with the wand. (without potentially damaging my pelvis/spine) So I can got discharged and had to pee it out.... which was not painful at all, just weird.
Great news for stone sufferers! I have no comment on the breakthrough.
I would like to harp a little about the cliche in the headline though. What "game" exactly is being changed? The game of pissing pain-free? Even if it's a direct quote as the punctuation suggests, that trite nonsense should never have made it to the headline. The editors should be ashamed.
“Game changer” is a very common phrase in (at least US) English. Grammarist has a nice write up on it. While it may have originally referring to games of sport, it has long since evolved to refer to “ anything from a person to an idea or event that radically changes how something’s done or thought about“. In this case, a significant improvement in treatment of kidney stones.