Often when you're diagnosed with a kidney stone, your medical professional will tell you to go home and wait for it to pass. How do you deal with the discomfort in the meantime? Stock up on ibuprofen, run a warm bath, and hydrate as much as you can.
Over-The-Counter Pain Medication
Take anti-inflammatory medication to dull the pain of the kidney stone making its way down your ureter. Your ureter is stretching and spasming, attempting to accommodate the stone and push it out of your body, which is what causes the pain you're experiencing in your flank and groin areas. Take a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) such as ibuprofen or naproxen. Ask your doctor how much you should take and how often.
Prescription Pain Medication
Make sure you follow any directions your doctor or pharmacist gives you for taking Vicodin when you go home. You'll probably want to eat before you take it. You may feel ill, but make sure you eat a small amount of bland food. Once you take the medication, your pain--and probably your nausea--will abate.
Warm Bath
Get into a soothing bath. Much like it does for laboring women who sit in a bath, the warm water will help relieve your pain. You can take several baths a day.
Hydrate
Drink lots of water. This helps the kidney stone progress down the ureter and hopefully make it pass more quickly. Keeping yourself hydrated may also help prevent future kidney stones from forming. Dr. John Rodman, author of "No More Kidney Stones: The Experts Tell You All You Need to Know about Prevention and Treatment," recommends you drink enough water to produce 2,000cc's of urine a day. That's about 64 oz.
Heating Pad
Place a heating pad on your flank to ease the spasms caused by the stone making its way down the ureter.
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