9 Signs You May Have a Kidney Infection
A nasty and uncomfortable kidney infection results when bacteria enter via the bladder
and invade one or both kidneys.
Medically known as, Pyelonephritis, a kidney infection won’t cause any serious kidney
damage if it’s treated early.
Here are the 9 most telling signs that you’ve fallen victim to a kidney infection…
1.
Kidney Pain
Pain and discomfort on the side of the affected kidney is common with a kidney infection.
You may also feel a dull pain in your lower back as well as in the genital area.
Obviously, every patient with a kidney infection feels different degrees of pain (in fact,
some have zero pain) and different symptoms.
However, severe pain is common with a kidney infection with many patients complaining of
radiating pain in their sides and backs, just below the ribs where the kidneys sit.
Many also complain of pain that moves about, or travels from the lower abdomen into the
back, and even in the area of the groin.
Typically pain is radiating, which means it fluctuates in waves of sharp pain, followed
by throbbing pain and tenderness.
2.
Chills & Fever
With any infection, a fever can occur with temperatures soaring above 100-degrees Fahrenheit,
accompanied by the normal chills—so grab a blanket and warm up.
A kidney infection is caused by an over production of bacteria in the organ, as bacteria attach
themselves to the walls of the kidneys symptoms will flare up, including fever.
Often patients don’t experience fever and chills until the kidney infection is present
for some time.
Left untreated, a kidney infection will cause a mild to high fever, accompanied by telltale
chills.
If you experience a sudden and unexplained fever, please see a doctor immediately.
3.
Fatigue
Lack of energy is also common with an infection of the kidneys with the patient often feeling
so weak or zapped of energy that all they want to do is sleep.
Rest is needed for the body to fight off the infection.
4.
Urinary Urgency
If your kidney infection worsens, and spreads to the urethra, you will often feel the constant
and sudden urge to urinate, even if you just emptied your bladder.
You may feel like you can’t quite empty your bladder, like there is fluid remaining,
even right after using the washroom.
Your urine can also have a foul smell and appear cloudy as the infection worsens.
This overwhelming persistent urge to urinate is often one of the first signs of a kidney
infection.
The urge to go can be accompanied by pressure or heaviness in the lower abdomen as well
as a dull, throbbing pain.
However, keep in mind that this feeling of urinary urgency is also characteristic of
kidney stones as well as a urinary tract infection (UTI).
5.
Nausea
A mild nausea and even vomiting, may very well cause victims of a kidney infection to
suffer from loss of appetite and fatigue and weight loss due to lack of nourishment.
You may also feel nauseated due to dehydration, which is a common result as the body tries
to flush bacteria from the body with increased urinary frequency.
You may feel so nauseated from the infection that you become sick to your stomach.
The nausea and stomach upset can occur for a few reasons.
For instance, you may feel nauseated due to pain and pressure on your abdomen from the
infection.
On nausea and vomiting can occur due to improperly functioning kidneys.
Keep in mind that the kidneys are responsible for toxin elimination, which means vomiting
may occur to purge waste products from the body if kidneys aren’t working fast enough.
6.
Jaundice
Many children with kidney infections that are not treated right away end up with jaundice,
which is a yellowing of the skin that’s particularly evident in the whites of the
eyes.
Jaundice can occur when the blood contains an excess of bilirubin, a pigment that is
produced naturally when red blood cells are broken down and excreted through bile.
Interestingly, bile is actually green in color, however, when it reacts with bacteria in the
large bowel, bilirubin takes a dark brown or dark yellow colour.
Jaundice most typically occurs when the liver (the body’s main elimination route) is faulty.
However, jaundice can also occur when waste products aren’t excreted properly via the
urine (which is the responsibility of the kidneys).
7.
Flu-Like Malaise
Feeling sick, as if you have the flu, is very common to those suffering from a kidney infection.
So it’s easy to brush off as routine malaise if you have a fever, headache, nausea, and
muscle aches that you would experience with a stomach bug or flu.
However, these tell tale symptoms are also common with urinary tract infections, which
are bacterial infections that can strike at any portion of your urinary tract (i.e., the
bladder, kidneys, ureters, and urethra.
A UTI can easily become a kidney infection when bacteria invade the urethra, multiply,
and move onward to the bladder (this is called cystitis).
If a UTI isn’t properly treated, bacteria can continue to multiply, traveling up the
ureters an eventually taking up host in the kidneys.
A doctor typically refers to a kidney infection as pyelonephritis, which can spread to the
bloodstream, causing severe illness throughout the body.
Luckily, pyelonephritis is typical remedied with antibiotics.
8.
Blood in Urine
Those with a severe kidney infection often go to the doctor complaining of pus or tinges
of blood in the urine.
When red blood cells are evident in the urine, the condition is referred to as a Hematuria.
Hematuria can occur when a urinary tract infection (or UTI) spreads from the bladder and urethra
(the lower urinary system) to the upper urinary system (kidneys and ureters).
A severe kidney infection is referred to as pyelonephritis a this point.
Blood can appear in the urine when kidneys function is disturbed.
Healthy kidneys work to filter the blood and toxins.
The elimination of toxins is effective when the kidneys produce urine to emit waste from
the body.
If blood is not filtered property on route from the kidneys down to the bladder, urine
can appear blood tinged or cloudy with blood.
9.
Flank Pain
With a kidney infection, a patient can often experience a dull pain that comes and goes
in the flank (the fleshy area between the ribs and hip) and lower back on the side close
to where the affected kidney is located.
Flank pain is characterized by pressure, throbbing pain, or discomfort in the side, upper abdomen,
or back, just underneath the ribs and above the pelvis.
Typically, kidney flank pain will present more severely on one side of the body.
Sudden and chronic flank pain may be caused by a serious medical condition (i.e., UTI
or a kidney infection).
If severe flank pain occurs suddenly it can also be the result of painful kidney stones
or another kidney problem.
If you experience chronic flank pain, don’t take a pain reliever and go to sleep, make
an appointment with your doctor immediately!