Unexplained post-acute infection syndromes

Itchy Skin At Night Could Be A Sign That It's Time To Change Your Sheets

Itching can strike any time of day, but why does it always seem worse at night, right when you're trying to get some shut-eye? No, your body isn't suddenly conspiring against you after sunset. Rather, without any of the (many) daytime distractions, that irritating urge to scratch becomes way more noticeable. When you're finally tucked into bed, your mind has less to focus on, so itching can feel way more intense. But don't stress: There are some (very easy) ways to help soothe your skin. Ahead, advice from top dermatologists on how to stop the itch and catch some much-needed zzz's.

Experts Featured in This Article:

Quynh-Giao Sartor, MD, FAAD, is a dermatologist at Westlake Dermatology based in Houston, TX.

Supriya Rastogi, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group.

Brendan Camp, MD, is a double board-certified dermatologist at MDCS Dermatology and Clinical.

What causes itching at night?

Itching (technical term: pruritus) is a common condition, affecting roughly 20 percent of adults, according to Medscape. It occurs when nerve fibers are stimulated, either through the release of chemicals such as histamine or via mechanical or heat stimuli, explains Texas-based dermatologist Quynh-Giao Sartor, MD, FAAD. As mentioned, it's more of a mind trick that makes it seem like itching is worse (or only crops up) once you hit the sack. But there are also specific itch-inducing triggers that are associated with the overnight hours.

An Existing Skin Condition: According to board-certified dermatologist Supriya Rastogi, MD, an underlying skin issue is one of the main culprits. Research shows that conditions such as eczema and psoriasis are exacerbated at night, when the skin naturally loses moisture. Dr. Rastogi adds that even run-of-the-mill dryness can be a factor; dry skin is often itchy.

Bedding and Clothing: Since bedding and clothing come in direct contact with your skin, it's no surprise that they're on the list of irritants. Dr. Rastogi explains that materials like wool and fleece can exacerbate itching. They're both innately scratchy and also warm the skin, which makes things worse. To that point…

Body Heat: Hot sleeper? This could be another root cause. "The sensation of itch is transmitted mostly by nerve fibers that are temperature sensitive. Raising the temperature lowers the threshold of the itch receptors," says Dr. Sartor. Translation: The hotter you are, the itchier you'll feel.

Certain Foods and Drinks: Nighttime drinks and snacks might also be to blame for your late night scratch-fest. Consuming caffeine, alcohol, or spicy foods before bed allows for more blood flow, which warms the skin and further exacerbates itching, Dr. Rastogi explains. It might not be a bad idea to skip that spicy ramen or after dinner cappuccino before hitting the hay.

Environmental Changes: While itch can strike anytime during the day, it's worse at night as a result of environmental changes, says Brendan Camp, MD, a double board-certified dermatologist. Lower humidity levels and dry indoor heat can suck the moisture out of your skin, making it feel drier and itchier as the night goes on.

How to Ease Nighttime Itch

There are various ways you can both ward off nighttime itch at the pass and/or help soothe discomfort when it does strike.

Avoid Hot Showers: Dr. Rastogi recommends taking lukewarm showers instead of hot ones to avoid drying out the skin.

Switch Up Your Skincare Routine: Since dry skin and itchiness go hand-in-hand, make sure to load up on extra moisture. "Use thick moisturizers, preferably ones you scoop from a jar. They're more effective and provide a stronger barrier and deeper hydration than thinner lotions in pump bottles," notes Dr. Rastogi. Cooling treatments—think menthol-based creams—or a cool-mist humidifier can also work wonders.

Change Your Bedding: If you suspect that your itching is fabric-related, opt for breathable fabrics such as cotton, explains Dr. Rastogi. Cotton tends to be more breathable, sweat-absorbent, and less likely to cause overheating overnight. The smooth texture also won't irritate your skin. An excuse to pick up new PJs and sheets, perhaps?

Avoid Common Irritants: Dr. Rastogi recommends washing your bedding with detergents labeled "Free and Clear", which means they don't contain dyes, perfumes, or preservatives, all of which can further irritate your skin.

Manage Stress Levels: It's easier said than then, but, as much as possible, try keeping stress in check. (Dr. Rastogi recommends relaxation techniques, such as mindfulness or yoga.) Increased stress has shown to trigger eczema flares and make eczema-sufferers feel extra itchy.

Use Topical And Oral Treatments: As a last resort, talk to your doctor about OTC or prescription meds. Topical anesthetics such as lidocaine or anti-inflammatory agents such as steroids can help ease the itching, says Dr. Sartor. Also helpful? "Systemic drugs such as oral antihistamines (hydroxyzine, Benadryl) can work to block itching, although these tend to have sedating side effects," Dr. Sartor adds. The big caveat: These should only be used per your doctor's recommendations, says Dr. Rastogi.

When to See a Doctor

Both experts we spoke with agree that if your itch lasts for more than two weeks or is seriously disrupting your sleep, it's time to call a doctor. "It's also important to seek medical advice if the itching is accompanied by redness, swelling, or skin changes," Dr. Rastogi adds. And get checked out if you have any other symptoms—fever, unexplained weight loss, night sweats, or fatigue—as the itching could be an indication of an underlying condition, she notes. The good news: In many cases, a few of the simple tweaks mentioned above should be sufficient to help you stop scratching while you snooze.

Kayla Hui (she/her) is a freelance writer, specializing in health, wellness, the outdoors, travel, and food. In her five years of writing experience, she's covered women's health, chronic conditions, health disparities, and wellness trends for Women's Health, Well+Good, Shape, Health, Verywell Health, The Zoe Report, and more.

23 Real-Life Paranormal Encounters That Are Far Scarier Than Any Hollywood Horror Movie You've Ever Seen

Reddit user Kendexx posed this question in the r/AskReddit community: "What is the scariest thing you've ever seen in your life that you can't explain?" As someone who loves a good ghost story, I couldn't resist. Here are some of the eeriest encounters people recalled:

1."I once woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of my bedroom door creaking open. I could see the outline of someone standing there, but when I turned on the light, there was no one. The door started slowly closing as if whoever or whatever had been there was leaving. Even creepier, my Nest fire alarm had illuminated in the corridor, sensing movement, but nobody was there. Still gives me chills thinking about it."

–justheway

2."One night, when I was 14 years old, I heard the shower turn on around midnight or some ungodly hour. I assumed it was just my mom. I tried to go back to sleep for ages and couldn't. I just lay there waiting and waiting. Ages went by. I went to check to ensure she hadn't fallen or something. No one was in there, and the shower was on full blast. I was terrified. I had to turn it off, and in doing so, I felt a wave of dread wash over me. I ran back to my room and hid."

–Left_Pear4817

Douglas Sacha / Getty Images

3."My grandparents own a very old, large mansion where my three siblings and I spent a lot of time. We each had our own bedrooms, and one night, my sister begged me to sleep in her room because she was scared. We were both watching TV when suddenly, I saw a woman with long dark hair dressed in a sundress walk from the library, past my sister's doorframe, and down the hall. I jumped up to look down the hall just in time for the woman to look back at me, round the corner, and disappear. My sister raced over, slamming the door in front of my face. She was almost in tears, blubbering, 'She'll be back. Please don't open the door! I don't want to see her again!'"

"The door had a large square hole where a metal grate sat for proper ventilation, but it was removed for cleaning at the time. I saw the woman's legs walk past the door through that hole several times during the night. To this day, my sister won't talk about it, and she kicked me out of her room once the metal grate was put back on the door."

–Limited_two

4."When my grandpa died, almost all of the family was around his bed. We put some candles on the nightstand. A few seconds after he died, the flames of the candles started burning so intensely that the height grew about 10 times bigger. They stayed like that for about 10 seconds before returning to their normal size. I don't know if my grandpa's soul leaving his body caused some kind of combustion, but it was weird, and we had no explanation for it. All my uncles saw it, but no one has talked about it since."

–xlake1

Fhm / Getty Images

5."My best friend and I would always talk about our wild dreams. He told me about one where he got hit by a car and died. We were about 15 or 16 when he told me about the dream (we were into things like aliens, the paranormal, and lucid dreaming, so we'd talk about stuff like that a lot), and he died right before he would've turned 20. In the dream, he said he was riding a skateboard wearing all black when this car hit him. He said he could see everyone at his funeral (he even said his crush was at his funeral and laughed about it). He just kept going on about how it was so real, and it shook me up until I eventually forgot about it. Then, a few years later, after I'd long forgotten about the dream, it happened for real."

"He did get hit by a car and die. His crush was at his funeral. He was wearing all black like in the dream (his work clothes) and riding my skateboard. It was all true, and I still don't know what to make of it. Every detail I remember from his dream came true, and I'm sure there are parts he told me that I don't remember. I felt like I was losing my mind. I didn't tell anyone about it. I just don't know why or how he saw it happen in his dream. I have so many questions, but I guess now I have proof, at least for myself, that our souls go on after we die. I just wish I knew why he experienced that dream and told me about it; there must be some reason. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't experienced it myself. Has anyone ever experienced anything similar?"

–johnnyb1917

6."I grew up in an old farmhouse in Alabama. A lot of weird stuff happened there, but the memory that sticks out the most was the night when everyone in my immediate family saw the same thing. We were watching TV in the living room (five of us), and from the living room, you could see directly into the dining room. We first noticed a sound in the dining room, like paper crunching. I don't remember who heard it first, but one of us asked if anyone else heard it. Then it happened again. We all turned and looked into the dining room, and the blinds on the window raised all the way up, hung there for about three seconds, and then crashed back down. No one else was in the house. We still talk about it today. No explanation, just scary."

–StrangeMagic83

Zhihao / Getty Images

7."The day before my grandfather died, he told my brother and me that he'd be waiting at the bar to buy us a beer in the future. Skip ahead to about a month after his passing. I had a very short, VERY vivid dream where I walked into a bar I didn't recognize, and my grandpa was there. He spun his chair around and had a beer in each hand. He said, 'You guys ready for that beer?' I looked to the right, and my brother was standing next to me. I SNAPPED awake so fast I scared the crap out of my wife and dog. I was panting and totally freaked out. I went to check my phone to see what time it was, and as I picked it up, I got a text from my brother saying, "Hey, I just had a fucked up dream.' Yeah. Same dream."

–FloridaIsHell

8."I was biking home one evening when I was 9. We lived in the countryside up a small mountain. The road from the village started uphill, then had a flat section, and then went uphill again. The street lights only stretched to the end of the flat section. I was afraid of the dark, so I stopped at the end of the street lights at the bottom of the last hill to gather the courage to bike the final section home. It was a partial moon, so it wasn't pitch black, and at the end of the final hill, I saw a figure walking down towards me. I thought I'd wait until they got closer because I'd feel less afraid to bike in the dark if someone else was close. But, about halfway down the hill, the 'person' walked into a thin shadow of a tree on the road and never returned. They just disappeared."

"I stood there for a while and tried to figure out what I'd just seen. Then I panicked, biked down to the village, and decided to stay there until my parents drove down, wondering why I had never come home. They tried rationalizing it by saying the person might've gone into the woods. They didn't disclose, though, out of fear that I'd never dare to bike home again, that my father had seen the same thing walking home from work. He had seen her clear as day, walking down the hill for a while. When he looked down for a moment and looked up, she was gone, and there were no footsteps in the fresh snow.

I later read a book about local legends, and apparently, for at least a century, many people have seen her walking down the hill and disappearing halfway down. My youngest daughter loved this story, so we've been on ghost stakeouts where we buy pizzas and snacks and hang out at the bottom of the hill, listening to the Ghostbusters theme song and trying to see the ghost."

–SmalandOutdoor

Rbkomar / Getty Images

9."I had a sleepover with my best friend (we were in our 20s), and I slept on the couch. The couch had a direct line of sight all the way down her hallway to the bedrooms. I woke up from a dead sleep around 4:00 a.M., sat up, and looked down the hallway. At the end was a woman. She looked at me for a second, then turned and walked through one of the bedroom doors. I heard the door open and close, even though it never moved. The next day, I told my friend about it. She said, 'Oh, so you saw the woman! My mom and I see the woman. Dad and my brother always see a little girl.' As far as I know, the woman and/or little girl still hang around the house. Her family still sees them sometimes."

–morganalefaye125

10."I studied in the UK during college and lived in a house with other American students. They all had stories about the ghost of a girl who passed away while living there. I never believed in any of it, but it was fun to play along. The kitchen had one way in and out, and right after you entered the kitchen, to your right was a padlocked door to the cellar where the ghost allegedly lived. I had the only key. We were all a little homesick near Thanksgiving, so we decided to do a meal together. This required some creative cooking schedules due to small appliances in the kitchen, so one girl who didn't have class the following day offered to stay up late to get the turkey going. We went into the cellar the first (and only) time that evening to get larger cooking tools."

"At 2:04 a.M., I woke up to my door rattling like someone was pushing against it. I assumed it was a housemate who just went to the wrong door. About 30 seconds later, I heard a scratchy female voice softly say, 'Hello?' which repeated every five seconds or so. My window was open, and it sounded like the voice was coming from outside, so I got up to close it. I assumed it was some drunk girl walking back from the pub. I went to the window, and there was no one there. I heard 'Hello?' again behind me, clear as a bell, then my door rattled again, then fell silent.

I've had night terrors before and hallucinate when I have even a mild fever, so I assumed I was still asleep and laid back down. The following day at 7:00 a.M., the girl who was cooking told me, 'I had the creepiest night. At 1:50, I heard footsteps coming up the cellar stairs, then the door rattled. Then, at 2:10, the door rattled again, and I heard footsteps coming down.' She told me this before I had said anything to anyone about what I'd experienced."

–ProfessorBeer

Getty Images/iStockphoto

11."I went to college in Providence, Rhode Island. My dorm room housed my roommate and me, and we had our beds on opposite sides of the room, with our desks by the foot of each bed. Anyway, my boyfriend and I were hanging out in my room one day, and he was lying on my bed. I was up next to the bed and bent over to grab something. I heard him scream, and he covered his eyes (not exaggerating), but he wouldn't tell me why. Eventually, he told me that when I bent over, he saw a shadow behind me that actually kind of looked like him, and it freaked him out. He had an afro, so the silhouette would've been pretty distinctive. We didn't really talk about it afterward, and I never told my roommate (she wasn't in the room at the time)."

"A few weeks later, I was asleep in bed with my boyfriend. I woke up in the middle of the night to my roommate packing a bag, clearly panicked. She rushed out of the room and didn't see me wake up, so I didn't say anything. The following day, I saw her and asked her why she had rushed out of the room in the middle of the night. She told me she woke up in the middle of the night and saw my boyfriend sitting at my desk. She asked him why he was up, then saw my boyfriend sleeping beside me! She believed in ghosts, so she freaked and left.

It freaked me out because we hadn't mentioned the 'lookalike' my boyfriend saw to her, and it sounded like she saw the same figure."

–Expensive_Plant4586

12."I was on a cruise with a friend, and we shared a cabin. My friend was a really loud snorer. He would usually stay awake until I'd fallen asleep; otherwise, I'd find it impossible to sleep with the racket he was making. That night, he'd had a few drinks and passed out drunk, snoring loudly. It didn't bother me, as I had my book to read. It was about 2:00 a.M., and I was wide awake, reading my book in bed. I got this feeling there was something at the foot of the bed. I glanced up, and there was this' thing.' It looked like a person but translucent and gray, and the features were blurry. It was a bit like if a person was made of television static. I felt like it was being inquisitive, like how a young child would watch you do something."

"In my head, I asked what it wanted, and as I did, it turned and walked across the room to the door. As it did, it disappeared. I didn't feel scared or threatened by it. No idea what it was. I don't drink or take drugs, so it wasn't that, and I was wide awake. Odd. Really odd."

–Ana_Phases

Catherine Mcqueen / Getty Images

13."About 25 years ago, my now ex-wife and I were caretakers of a house. We had been there for several weeks and noticed that we always had a funny feeling coming up the cellar stairs. It felt like something was going to grab us as soon as we turned the light switch off. Everything else about the house was normal. We slept with an analog windup alarm clock next to the bed — the kind that actually ticks. To set the alarm, you had to move a tiny third hand to the location on the clock face for the desired time. For example, you'd put the hand halfway between 6:00 and 7:00 to awaken at 6:30 a.M. It's a physical process, and it's difficult to get wrong."

"We always had the clock set to wake us up at 6:00 a.M. It was not something we fiddled with daily. One night, the alarm clock went off at about 2:00 a.M., playing old-school ringing bells. Both my ex-wife and I woke up absolutely terrified. I saw a small figure, maybe two feet tall, run out of the room. I thought I must've been imagining it until my ex-wife screamed, 'Did you just see that thing?' We both described it as some sort of small gremlin. When we looked at the alarm clock, we saw that the alarm hand had been moved from 6:00 a.M. To 2:00 a.M. It scared the crap out of me. I have no explanation for it. Nothing else ever happened there, but the cellar feeling persisted."

–theferalforager

14."When I was a kid, my grandpa was the night shift custodian of a big old-school church building. My sister and I used to go with him some nights because they had a big gymnasium-type room with a ton of big exercise balls and stuff, and it was fun to run around. One night, while my grandpa was locking a room up, my sister and I heard a noise down the stairs behind us. We looked, and an old lady was leaving the building. She turned, looked at us, and made the 'shhh' motion with her finger to her lips, then she left. We didn't think too much of it at the time. We asked our grandpa if anyone else was in the building tonight (like for any meetings, classes, etc.), and he said no, it was just us in the entire building. We asked him where the door down the stairs led, and he said, 'Oh, that goes out to the cemetery.' My sister and I FREAKED out. We still talk about it today and have the same memory of it."

–ziggs4lyfe

Georgepeters / Getty Images

15."Back in college, my girlfriend and I would go back to her parents' old farmhouse and fool around after class. There was never anybody home. One afternoon, I was standing in her kitchen, thirstily guzzling a post-sex Gatorade. Behind me was a back staircase leading to the house's second floor. When I finished my drink and turned to leave the room, I noticed a little girl between 7 and 10 years old standing on the bottom step. My first thought was, 'Oh crap. Why didn't my girlfriend tell me a little girl was in the house? I really hope she didn't hear what we were up to!' But before I could speak, I realized something was off. She was semi-transparent and oddly two-dimensional in a way I can't articulate. Slowly, I realized that I was staring at a ghost."

"There was nothing inherently frightening about the experience. Knowing I was in the presence of something unexplainable, I did everything in my power not to blink. I stared at her for 10 to 15 seconds, taking in every detail I could. She was wearing a red and yellow summer dress. Her long blonde hair was tied into two old-timey braids at the end. She wore black strapped shoes. Overall, her look gave me a 1940s—1970s vibe.

Fortunately for her, she seemed to have no idea I existed. She stood on the bottom step, looking out the back window towards the driveway like she was waiting for someone to arrive. I never took my eyes off her, but she was eventually gone. I never believed in ghosts before that. I still don't believe in intelligent hauntings, but I'll certainly entertain the idea of residual energy and echoes of the past."

–ThroatBabies

16."My grandfather had died a few days earlier, and my mom was crying in our kitchen. I hugged her. We had a lot of my grandfather's belongings, but there was this broken radio that didn't even have working batteries on the table, along with other things like photos and clothes he previously owned. This is the only unexplainable thing I've ever experienced, but while my mom was bawling, the radio made a very loud static noise for about one second. We both stared in silence at it. It was eerie! She stopped crying when she heard it. We both went to bed after that and haven't spoken of it since. If it were something paranormal, I'd imagine it was my grandfather letting us know he was there."

–One-Ad8707

Sutthiwat Srikhrueadam / Getty Images

17."The basement in my dad's house is finished except for the storage room. It's really dark and creepy and is around the corner from the basement's main room. There's an elliptical down there, and when standing on the elliptical, if you look over your shoulder, you can see half of the door to the storage room. I was working out on said elliptical, and I felt like someone was standing behind me, so I looked over my shoulder. In that half doorway, a dark figure with light gray eyes stood there looking at me. I was house-sitting, so I knew there wasn't anyone else home. I slowly got off the elliptical and went into the bathroom to hide; a while later, I decided to be bold and rush past the storage room and back upstairs. It was not my first time seeing that gray-eyed figure either."

–Conscious-Outside430

18."I used to work for a company where I would go into foreclosed homes. I went into this one house with a coworker, and from the moment I stepped into the yard, I felt I was being watched. We went inside, and I felt I was being watched the entire time. And I kept seeing black, swirling shadows standing in the corner of every room. I saw them out of the corner of my eye, and when I'd look directly at them, they'd be gone. At one point, we heard the basement door SLAM shut. My coworker and I said, 'OK, I think we're done for the day.' When we were leaving, I asked the coworker if that house was weird, and he said yeah, he kept seeing black shadows in the corners. I remember getting chills. I refused to ever go back to that house."

–Genghishahn44

Zimmytws / Getty Images/iStockphoto

19."I saw a completely identical 'copy' of me at a beach in California. They were wearing different clothes than I was at the time, but they were still wearing clothes I owned. As soon as I tried approaching him to get a picture, he started to run away down the shoreline at full speed. A strange experience for sure."

–psychedelicious13

20."I was around 10 years old, and my grandma had just died. I didn't really know her because she had spent most of my young life in a nursing home and often didn't remember who I was when I went to visit. But, when I visited, she would always rub my back. It was like an instinctual way to comfort someone. She did it to all her kids and grandkids. For about a year after she died, I would be sitting in my room at night, alone, and start to feel someone rubbing my back like she used to. It freaked me out until I acknowledged it one night and said, 'Thank you, grandma.' It stopped after that, and I never felt it again."

–sillybanana2012

Ralf Nau / Getty Images

21."I grew up in a haunted house in Canada. From ages 7 to 18, I saw and experienced a lot that I cannot and will not attempt to explain. The house was obviously haunted. We had doors slamming, orbs, shadows, and electronic phenomena. You name it, and this house had it. Whatever resided there was never malicious to any of us — it was maybe even playful when we were kids. I was not afraid of it, just a little confused. I feel like this background will give a little context to what happened last week. Last week, my wife and I flew to York, England. It is a lovely town made even more special by the people who live in, curate, and care for it. We spent three days wandering around, shopping, and drinking pints with the locals. Part of that shopping involved going into a four-story antique store by The Minster."

"The first floor was really cool and had lots of houseware from a bygone era. The second floor was all records, and the third floor was curiosities gathered from a life of travel. The fourth floor was messed up. As my wife and I rounded the banister, it felt like I walked into the saddest, angriest place I have ever been. On one wall were WW1 medals, on the other were WW2 medals, and in the middle was a rocking horse.

I felt like I had to run for my life. The darkness that saturated every inch of that room was indescribably terrifying. I abandoned my beautiful wife in a room with the darkest presence I have ever experienced. I sprinted from the building and sat on the front steps, waiting for my wife to come down and ask what was wrong with me.

She eventually meandered down and said, 'Yeah, you felt that too, huh? The rocking horse started rocking when you ran.' And this, folks, is why I will not be going back there."

–kokaneeking

22."Roughly 15 years ago, I was in upstate New York with my uncle at our family house. It's pretty quiet; not a lot of people are up there. My uncle and I were outside when it started to downpour, so we went inside. We were looking out the front door together, and my uncle commented on how hard it was raining. It's also pretty rural, so it was mostly pitch-black out, with only our front house light illuminating the area. We saw someone speed-walking on the road as we looked out the door. It was so dark, but their skin was so pale we could see their hands swaying as they walked and then their face as they turned towards our house. All I remember was the face had no eyes. My uncle quickly shut the door and said not to worry. It was probably someone who got stuck in the rain. I was scared, but he calmed me down. I was little, so I don't remember too much after that other than my uncle keeping watch for a while."

"I forgot about this story until years later, when I brought it up with my uncle because I thought maybe it was a dream. His attitude changed when I brought it up, and he just said he remembered but didn't want to talk about it. I have never brought it back up to him, and to this day, when I think about it, I feel really eerie."

–NyStiles1210

David Wall / Getty Images

23.And: "When I was in second grade, I woke up one night and saw a glowing ball about the size of a volleyball floating out of my bedroom closet. It was pale green and hovered in the middle of the room. I remember pulling the covers over my head and being overwhelmed with this sense of fear/dread. I tried to yell out for my parents, but I was so terrified I could barely whisper. Years later (I was in my early 20s), we were at a family gathering, and somehow, the conversation turned to spooky things, and I told everyone at the table about the orb. My uncle (mom's brother) got this look on his face and said, 'You saw it too?!' He and my mom had lived in that house for a few years as kids (my grandfather owned it and sold it to my parents when they got married), and my old room had been his room. Apparently, the same exact thing had happened to him when he was roughly the same age."

–Colonial13

Have you ever experienced something truly scary and unexplainable? Tell us your story in the comments or share anonymously using this form.

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

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Kidney Stone Symptoms

Kidney stones are hard objects made from chemicals in your pee. They may be as tiny as a grain of salt or as big as a corn kernel. The stones can be brown or yellow, smooth or rough. They're a sign that you might be taking in too many minerals and not enough fluids.

Kidney stones usually form in your kidneys from chemicals in your urine.

Sometimes, you don't have any symptoms from kidney stones. But other times, it will be obvious. Pain is the most common symptom of kidney stones. Flushing one out of your body as you pee can hurt, sometimes a lot.

You may not have symptoms until the stone starts to stir. It can move around inside your kidney or into your ureter, the tube that connects your kidney to your bladder. These parts, along with your urethra (the tube taking urine from your bladder outside your body) make up your urinary tract.

This illustration shows the parts of your urinary tract. (Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images)

You may feel pain:

In your side or back, below your ribs

In your lower belly

In your groin or testicles

The pain can shift around to different places in your body. This means the stone is making its way from your kidney through the ureter to your bladder. It might also hurt more when you pee.

Your pain may range from mild to so strong that you end up in a hospital. Waves of severe pain may last from 20 minutes to an hour, before stopping for a while and then returning.

Besides pain, you might experience the following kidney stone symptoms:

Burning when you pee. This means a stone is near or in your bladder. It can cause a burning feeling when you urinate.

Needing to pee more often. The kidney stone is in the lower part of your urinary tract and is irritating your bladder, causing you to have the urge to pee.

Trouble peeing. While the kidney stone is irritating your bladder, it's also blocking your urine flow.

Pink, red, or brown blood in your urine (hematuria). If the stone is large enough, it can irritate the lining of your urinary tract and cause it to bleed.

Small stones in your pee. They're sometimes called gravel. These may or may not cause you pain.

Cloudy or bad-smelling pee. The kidney stone could lead to an infection in your urinary tract.

While most of your kidney stone symptoms will be in your urinary tract, you might also get the following symptoms that affect other parts of your body:

Fever and chills. These are signs of infection. When your immune system is fighting an infection, your body temperature rises. You may feel chilly when the fever starts and hot when the fever breaks.

Nausea and vomiting. Kidney stones can affect nerve connections between your urinary tract and digestive system, which may result in nausea and vomiting.

Women and men have the same kidney stone symptoms with a few differences:

Men and people with penises may have pain in the testicles or groin because the stone is near those areas.

Women and people with vaginas may have pelvic pain or get a urinary tract infection (UTI). A kidney stone can encourage bacterial growth, and women have shorter urethras than men, which makes it easier for bacteria to reach the bladder.

Men are twice as likely as women to experience kidney stones. Scientists have been researching the reasons and point to these factors:

Water intake. Men often drink less water than women. Drinking too little water is a risk factor for kidney stones.

Calcium intake. A diet high in calcium lowers the risk of kidney stones, and women tend to consume more calcium than men.

Protein intake. Animal protein is associated with a higher risk of kidney stones in men and older women.

Hormones. Postmenopausal women are at a greater risk of kidney stones than premenopausal women, suggesting that the female hormone estrogen might have a protective effect.

Urinary makeup. Men tend to have a lower urine volume and more of the minerals sodium and oxalate in their urine than women. These are all factors that raise the likelihood of kidney stones.

The number of women experiencing kidney stones is rising, which may be because of their lifestyle and dietary changes.

Symptoms of kidney stones and UTIs can be similar, sometimes leaving you confused over which condition you might have.

Both conditions have the same symptoms of:

Burning while peeing

Frequent urge to pee

Cloudy, bloody, or smelly urine

Pain in your body

Here are some of the differences:

With a kidney stone, you might have pain in your back or side. With a UTI, you might have pain in your bladder, groin, or lower abdomen.

With kidney stones, your urine is more likely to contain blood. With a UTI, your pee is more likely to be cloudy and smell bad.

With a UTI, you might have pain when having sex.

With kidney stones, you might have fever, nausea, and vomiting if you get an infection.

There's a strong connection between having UTIs and kidney stones, meaning that if you've had one of these conditions, you're at a raised risk of getting the other.

Generally, yes. If a stone gets stuck in one of your ureters, then it will cause a lot of pain. Your ureters are very narrow, only 3-4 millimeters (about 1/8 inch) wide. A big stone is more likely to get stuck there.

If the stone isn't moving through your ureter and is just sitting in your kidneys, then it may not cause any pain even if it's big. Small stones that are on the move may cause you more pain.

Symptoms last at least until your stones pass. So how long do stones take to pass? It depends on the size of the stone.

Kidney Stone Size % That Passes on Its Own Average Number of Days to Pass Smaller than 4 mm About 80% 31 4-6 mm About 60% 45 Larger than 6 mm About 20% 365 (1 year)

All in all, you might have pain and symptoms for at least a month. After the stone passes, you may still have a little residual pain and soreness from your urinary tract being irritated, but it should go away in a few days.

The first one is pain. Kidney stone pain will ebb and flow with the movement (or nonmovement) of the stone. Most of the time, the pain goes away when the stone enters your bladder. Your urethra is at least twice as wide as one of your ureters, so a kidney stone shouldn't give much trouble exiting your bladder, unless it's very big.

Once your stone makes it to your bladder, your body pain usually subsides, but you might start to get bladder problems like burning and frequent pee. If your stone is very large, you might have more pain as it pushes through the urethra and out your body.

If you've been diagnosed with kidney stones, you should:

Drink plenty of fluids to try to flush out the stone. Aim for 2-3 quarts a day. Water is best.

Take over-the-counter pain medication such as ibuprofen or naproxen.

Ask your doctor about prescription medicines like nifedipine (Adalat and Procardia) or tamsulosin (Flomax) that relax your ureter to help stones pass through.

You should see a doctor if you have:

Pain that prevents you from sitting comfortably

Pain with nausea and vomiting

Pain with fever and chills

Blood in your urine

Problems with peeing

These are all signs that you have a kidney stone. Your doctor can do blood and urine tests and a CT scan to confirm. They'll advise whether to wait for the stone to pass on its own or take other measures. In the case of larger stones, your doctor can give you treatments to break up the stones, install a stent to make the ureter temporarily wider for easier passage, or surgically remove the stones from your body.

See your doctor right away if you have severe pain or signs of an infection or urinary blockage.

The main kidney stone symptom is severe pain in your lower belly or side. This is from your stone making its way from your kidney to your bladder via a narrow tube called a ureter. You may also have symptoms like a frequent urge to pee, blood in your urine, smelly or cloudy pee, and fever and chills if you get an infection. Talk to your doctor if you have any of these kidney stone symptoms. They can give you pain relievers plus advise whether you should let the stone pass naturally or accept intervention. This usually depends on the size of the stone.

How do you know if you have kidney stones?

Signs include severe pain in your lower belly or side, constant urge to pee, blood in your urine, plus fever and chills if you get an infection. You may also experience nausea and vomiting.

Can kidney stones cause UTI symptoms?

Sometimes, a blockage in your urinary tract from a kidney stone can cause a UTI. One study showed that people with kidney stones were 5.7 times more likely to get a UTI. Many of the symptoms of a UTI and a kidney stone are very similar.

Is diarrhea a symptom of kidney stones​?

Diarrhea is not normally a symptom of kidney stones. However, it could be a cause of them. Chronic diarrhea dehydrates you, and ongoing dehydration is a top cause of kidney stones. Lack of hydration leads to less urine being created in your body and more minerals and salts, which can form into stones.

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