Of all of the body’s amazing abilities, perhaps considered one of the strangest is its capability to make stones.
Many may have heard of kidney or gallstonesand concentrate on the issues they could cause. But there are other, rarer varieties of stone within the body that might be present in essentially the most unlikely places.
What are these body stones are fabricated from? And what can we do to stop them?
Kidney stones affect around one in ten people. They develop from mostly calcium and oxalate that’s filtered from blood into our urine. (Oxalates are naturally occurring compounds present in each plants and humans.) In larger amounts, the oxalate and calcium can crystallise and collect together to form a stone.
Kidney stones can vary considerably in size – from lower than a millimetre across to centimetres or more. They may form unusual shapes – if the stone builds up throughout the branching channels (calyces) of the kidney, it may tackle the shape of a deer’s antler. This known as a staghorn calculus.
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These stones cause issues once they obstruct the ureters – the 2 tubes that transport urine from the kidneys to the bladder. If this happens, it may cause severe pain within the loins, in addition to stopping normal urinary flow. This in turn could cause an infection, or urine accumulating in and across the kidney.
Another common condition is gallstones. These form inside either the gallbladder, or the biliary tree – the duct system that delivers bile to the gut to assist break down fats. Gallstones form from either cholesterol or bile pigmentsand might be singular or multiple.
But, like kidney stones, if gallstones work their way right into a narrower space (just like the common bile duct), they too could cause problems equivalent to abdominal pain, infections and jaundice.
Rarer stone disorders
Stones, then, can develop from different bodily fluids. Take salivary stonesfor example.
Saliva is produced by glands that sit next to the ear and underneath the jaw and tongue. Once secreted into the mouth, it helps moisten food so it may be swallowed, in addition to kicking off the digestion process. Salivary stones are constructed from many various elementsincluding calcium, magnesium and phosphate.
If salivary stones grow to be stuck within the ducts, this could prevent the secretion of saliva into the mouth, causing pain and swelling. Stagnation of saliva might result in bad breath, or a horrid taste within the mouth, especially if it triggers an infection of the salivary gland.
Stones may also be present in the tonsils. Located in the back of the mouth at the highest of the throat, tonsils are masses of lymphoid tissue which can be a part of the body’s immune system. It’s ironic, then, that they so often get inflamed and infected.
The tonsils have cavities called crypts, by which morsels of food and saliva can lodge. The result’s a tonsil stoneor tonsillolith.
These are sometimes softer and fewer stony, but may harden with time and likewise include their fair proportion of problems – mainly bad breath or recurrent infections.
Other body materials have the capability to harden too, turning themselves into stone. Faeces, for example, can grow to be so hardened that it forms a stony mass called a faecolith.
And the debris, including sloughed skin, present in your belly button may form a stone generally known as an omphalolith.
Read more:
Navel gazing: checking your belly button can let you know rather a lot about your health
What can we do about stones?
Happily, there are some easy measures which may prevent these pesky stones forming, or help to eliminate them.
The most vital is proper hydration. Drinking the correct quantity of water dilutes urine, prevents constipation, and likewise reduces bacterial construct up within the mouth, so will help avert lots of these different stone types. In the case of tonsil stones, good oral hygiene including regular tooth brushing will help reduce the chance too.
Diet can be essential, particularly for gallstoneswhich might be triggered by a high-fat weight loss program and obesity. There are some risk aspects you can’t alter – equivalent to being female or over 40, which raises the likelihood of gallstones forming. Avoiding calcium and oxalate-rich foods like dairy, spinach and rhubarb may help prevent kidney stones.
But what in case you’ve already got a stone? If it’s made you poorly, removal by surgery or endoscopy could also be crucial.
In the case of kidney stones, you may wait for the stones to go through your system, down the ureter into the bladder and out – sometimes with an audible ping into the toilet. A physician may even ask you to sieve your urine using a tea strainer to attempt to catch the stone on its exit.
Salivary stones can sometimes be helped along by sucking on a lemon, which acts as a robust stimulant for salivation –- making a jet to clear the duct. Salivary and tonsil stones may also be gently prodded out using a blunt instrument.
In short, there are various different treatments available for the differing types of body stone – and easy on a regular basis measures that will help reduce the chance of them developing.
