Low back pain and kidney deficiency are not necessarily kidney diseases. Never take kidney-tonifying medicines indiscriminately!

In daily life, many people associate low back pain and kidney deficiency with kidney disease, which not only causes psychological distress, but also leads to the abuse of kidney-tonifying drugs, which results in delayed treatment. This is actually a misunderstanding of kidney disease. Low back pain and kidney deficiency are not necessarily kidney diseases. Do not take kidney-tonifying drugs indiscriminately!

Low back pain is not necessarily kidney disease

Kidney disease rarely causes back pain, especially stubborn and severe back pain. When back pain occurs, the first thing to do is to identify the location of the back pain. If there is pain in the middle of the waist, lumbar spine disease, such as intervertebral disc displacement, should be considered. Pain on both sides of the waist, which is relieved after rest, may be considered lumbar muscle disease, such as lumbar muscle strain. At the same time, gynecological-related diseases, retroperitoneal tumors, chronic cholecystitis and aortic dissection can cause back pain. Therefore, back pain is not necessarily kidney disease, so don't worry too much. When back pain occurs, relevant examinations should be carried out as soon as possible to clarify the type and nature of the disease.

Which kidney diseases can cause low back pain? Although most low back pain is not related to kidney disease, some kidney diseases can also cause low back pain, which is worth being vigilant about.

0 1: Surgical diseases such as kidney stones and ureteral stones causing obstruction and incarceration and causing colic;

0 2: Urinary tract infection such as pyelonephritis;

0 3: Others such as renal tumor, renal abscess, renal vein thrombosis, etc.

In addition, it is also important to note that although glomerular diseases do not cause low back pain, they may cause low back soreness. For example, in very rare cases of acute proliferative glomerulonephritis accompanied by kidney swelling, mild discomfort in the lower back may occur, but severe low back pain rarely occurs.

Is kidney deficiency a kidney disease? Kidney deficiency in traditional Chinese medicine and kidney disease in Western medicine are two completely different concepts. Kidney deficiency is an abstract concept in the holistic view of traditional Chinese medicine. The lesions can affect multiple organs in the body, while kidney disease mainly refers to the lesions of the kidney itself. Therefore, kidney deficiency is not equal to kidney disease. However, when symptoms of kidney deficiency appear, attention should be paid. For example, when edema occurs, attention should be paid to the characteristics of edema, and urine routine examination should be performed at the same time; when female patients have edema, hair loss, rash and irregular menstruation, attention should be paid to the connection between the various symptoms, and secondary kidney disease screening should be performed at the same time; when patients have symptoms such as low back and leg pain, insomnia, and male diseases accompanied by anemia and hypertension, they should be alert to the possibility of late chronic kidney disease. When the above related symptoms are found, blood routine, renal function, and urinary system ultrasound examinations should be performed as soon as possible to prevent missed diagnosis and delayed treatment.

Use kidney-tonifying drugs with caution. Many patients who "feel" they have kidney deficiency find that they have kidney lesions after examination. They always want to use kidney-tonifying drugs to improve their symptoms. Coupled with commercial advertising, these drugs are misused and abused, increasing the risk.

Little do people know that medicine is partially poisonous. It can cure diseases, but it can also cause them.

From a medical perspective, it is not recommended that patients routinely take kidney-tonifying medicines because there is no definite medical data to prove that "tonics" can play the so-called "kidney-tonifying" role. On the contrary, the ingredients of many "tonics" are not clear, and the corresponding effects or adverse reactions are currently unknown in clinical practice. Improper tonics may lead to the occurrence of various complications, such as liver and kidney failure. Therefore, everyone must remember that low back pain and kidney deficiency are not necessarily kidney diseases. Use kidney-tonifying medicines with caution and try not to take them if you can.

(Contributed by Gao Dan from the Department of Nephrology of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine)