Why You Should Flush Your Kidney Stones at Home
As you might know, all kidney stones are different in size, shape and composition. Most kidney stones are made up of calcium and are less than 5 mm in diameter. These stones can usually be passed with plenty of water and proper nutrition. In most cases, these stones can pass in weeks to sometimes months.
The other 20% of stones are made out of uric acid, struvite, cystine, xanthine or silicate and can be much larger than 5 mm. Because all stones are different, many times water will not be sufficient to pass the kidney stone. In these cases, many doctors will recommend either medication treatment or sometimes surgery. These procedures can costs thousands of dollars and may cost you months of pain.
But as kidney stone research has grown in the last decade, many doctors are now recommending patients to use natural acids to help pass their kidney stones.
The Early Research on Acidic Natural Remedies
The decade was the 1950s and Dr. Ludwig Blau found a cure for gout. Dr. Blau showed how eating 6-8 cherries could offset the pain caused by gout (a painful form of arthritis). The doctor also discovered something about uric acid kidney stones too.
Dr. Blau also found that a daily regimen of eating one-half pound of cherries a day for 3-5 days will help pass uric based kidney stones. Many questioned this discovery but this early study would push many researchers to test the validity of acidic natural remedies.
And as you may have guessed, researchers also found that acidic remedies can dissolve calcium based kidney stones. Like calcium build up on your bath tub, calcium deposits can be dissolved by using phosphoric acid based cleaning products. And because phosphoric acid can be consumed, it is also used in many soft drinks for citrus flavor.
Using this knowledge, many health doctors and some traditional doctors recommend using a simple natural remedy that uses phosphoric acid.
Pass Kidney Stone 101
Knowing how to pass a kidney stone at home takes a little science.
The phosphoric acid in many common beverages can break down the kidney stones into smaller stones that are able to pass painlessly. The sufferer should also be consuming water soluble fiber which will act as a diuretic to flush the smaller stones.
Because the liver plays no role in acid base regulation. Literally, all acids are able to get to the kidneys with no filtration. The pH change produced by the acid causes increased hydrogen ion secretion in the nephons of the kidney.
Typically, the kidney stones will pass in less than 24 hours.
