What causes bladder stones?
What causes bladder stones?
Bladder stones form when urine sits in the bladder too long. The bladder is part of the body’s urinary system. When urine stays too long in the bladder, it becomes concentrated. Minerals in the urine harden and form crystals that clump together.
This process happens when you aren’t able to empty the bladder completely. Several conditions and factors increase the risk of bladder stones, including:
- Augmentation cystoplasty: During an augmentation cystoplasty (bladder augmentation) procedure, providers use tissue from the bowel to make the bladder larger and improve the way it works. Sometimes the procedure can cause pee to pool in the bladder.
- Bladder diverticula: Pouches or pockets in the bladder make it hard to empty the bladder completely. This condition can occur at birth or it can develop later in life as a result of disease or an enlarged prostate.
- Dehydration: Water dilutes the minerals in urine and flushes out the bladder. Dehydration (not drinking enough fluids) can lead to bladder stones because minerals build up in concentrated urine.
- Enlarged prostate: The prostate can get bigger as men age, which puts pressure on the urethra (the tube that carries pee from the kidneys to the bladder). The extra pressure can make it difficult to empty the bladder completely.
- Fallen bladder: Some women develop a condition called cystocele after childbirth. Weakened walls of the bladder fall into the vagina and block the flow of urine.
- Kidney stones: Bladder stones are similar to kidney stones. Sometimes a kidney stone can travel from your kidney into your bladder. Usually if the stone can pass into the bladder, it can easily be urinated out of the bladder. Very rarely, in patients who have trouble urinating, the stone can get stuck and get bigger inside the bladder and cause pain and difficulty urinating.
- Neurogenic bladder: Nerve damage from a spinal cord injury, stroke, other disease disease or congenital abnormality (such as spina bifida) can affect how the bladder works. People with neurogenic bladder often need a catheter (a thin, flexible tube) to drain the bladder. Sometimes catheters can’t drain all of the urine.
- Medical devices. Patients with devices in the bladder, such as catheters, can develop bladder stones from crystals that form on the device. This is typically if the device has been in the body longer than the recommended time periods.