If you have already suffered from a urinary tract infection (IU), you know how painful and uncomfortable it can be, until it is treated. But if you suffer from low back pain and you know that you have an IU (or you suspect it), the time is no longer in hesitation, you have to consult quickly.
The sign of an infection that turns to the kidney
“Lumbar pain (in the lower back) during a urinary tract infection is a sign that must alert and push to consult a doctor on the spot” Confirms Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency artist and medical director of True Medical. “”It is not a typical symptom of a simple cystitis (low infection of the bladder) and may indicate that the infection has spread to the kidneys. “ We then speak of pyelonephritis.
According to the doctor, lumbar pain appears mainly in this scenario:
The patient suffers from a low urinary tract infection (cystitis) not or badly treated. The bacteria go up by the ureters (the small tubes which connect the kidneys to the bladder) to reach one or two kidneys. The infection causes inflammation and swelling of the kidney, which stretches its capsule (the envelope that surrounds it), which causes lively pain.
How to recognize pyelonephritis
Other, rarer causes can also create this pain in the lower back. This is particularly the case with a renal or perish abscess, a complication of pyelonephritis where pus accumulates around the kidney. It can also be a urinary tract infection with renal calculation. The presence of a stone (calculation) in the urinary tract can block the flow of urine and promote severe infection, causing intense lumbar pain (infected nephretic colic).
In pyelonephritis, lumbar pain is not the only symptom. It is almost always accompanied by other signs:
- A high fever (often> 38.5 ° C) with chills;
- Signs of cystitis: burns by urinating, frequent and urgent desires to urinate, sometimes blood in the urine;
- A feeling of general discomfort, intense fatigue, nausea or vomiting;
- The pain is generally unilateral (on one side of the lower back), but can sometimes be on both sides;
- The pain can be deaf and constant or lively and deep.
To remember: a simple cystitis (bladder) causes pain in the lower abdomen, burns and pressing desires. But no fever and no lumbar pain. Pyelonephritis has the signs of cystitis, low back pain and a fever
An emergency consultation reason
Dr. Kierzek insists. In the event of lumbar pain in a urinary tract infection, it is essential to consult a doctor in an emergency whether it is his attending physician, or the emergency services directly.
“Pyelonephritis requires rapid medical treatment generally by intravenous antibiotics (infusions) in hospital, especially if the symptoms are intense.”
Why act quickly? Simply for your life. “”Untreated pyelonephritis can lead to serious complications, such as an abscess of the kidney or sepsis (generalized infection in the blood), which puts life in danger. ” So we don’t repel this pain until later. We listen to him and we act.