Symptoms

Very small kidney stones are unlikely to cause many symptoms. They may even go undetected and pass out painlessly when you pee.

Larger kidney stones can cause symptoms, including:

pain in the side of your tummy (abdomen) or groin - men may have pain in their testicles
a high temperature, or feeling hot, cold or shivery
feeling sweaty
severe pain that comes and goes
feeling sick or vomiting
blood in your urine
urine infection

Blocked ureter and kidney infection

A kidney stone that blocks the ureter, the tube that connects your kidney to your bladder, can cause a kidney infection.

This is because waste products are unable to pass the blockage, which may cause a build-up of bacteria.

The symptoms of a kidney infection are similar to symptoms of kidney stones, but may also include:

a high temperature
feeling hot, cold or shivery
feeling very weak or tired
cloudy and bad-smelling urine

Find out more about kidney infections

Sexual Health Advice

Throughout this series we have help and advice on staying healthy, dealing with Sexually Transmitted Infections, the risks of each type of the most popular gay sex and what to do if the sex you have is not consentual. The topics covered in this series include:

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