Kidney health and low back pain.

By request, I am talking this week a little about how big of an impact your kidney health plays on your low back.

Your kidneys, just like every organ in your body are constantly working for you. The kidneys are paired organs located just below the rib cage.  The kidneys have a lot of roles including:

1. Excretion (think of them as a coffee filter)
-Gets rids of metabolites, drugs, toxins

They convert the waste and extra water into urine that is excreted through urination.

2. Homeostasis
-Maintains water balance
-Regulates blood pressure
-Maintains electrolyte balance  – sodium (aldosterone secreted from the adrenal glands), potassium
-Acid/base balance

3. Endocrine (hormones) 
-produces renin(regulates blood pressure), erythropoetin hormone (produces red blood cells), prostaglandins (vasodilate or vasoconstrict blood vessels)
– They also break down the hormones insulin and aldosterone

4. Vitamin D
-Kidney converts vitamin D3 to calcitriol which promotes intestinal absorption of calcium and renal re-absorption of phosphate.

The main concept I want to focus on is 1. Excretion.  As I have mentioned probably a million times at this point, there are chemicals/toxins all around us.  And our kidneys are constantly filtering these out from our body.  As with anything, the organ can get tired after awhile of trying to constantly get all of these out.

Sometimes, kidney stones can form, which are solid pieces of material that form as chemicals in the urine crystallize and adhere together in the kidney.  Small stones may pass through urination without causing pain.  Larger stones with sharp edges and corners however, can cause an extreme amount of pain as they are passed out of the body through the urinary tract.


If you have a history of kidneys stones, your kidneys are telling you they need some HELP breaking stuff down.

People who have a high risk of having kidney inflammation/stones/excretion problems:
1. People who work with chemicals/fertilizers that are airborne
-non- organic farmers or live near farms, sports fields (baseball, football, ect.)
-Those who work around chemotherapy or other drugs/chemicals (doctors, nurses is really common)
-painters
-around mold, or insulation, ect.
-basically anyone who is around airborne chemicals alot
2. Those who take pharmaceutical drugs

Another reason the kidneys can be having a difficult time is if you are dehydrated.  Remember one of the functions of the kidneys are to maintain water balance.  What I see often, is as it gets hotter, patients don’t increase their water intake and start to get dehydrated.  This throws off their electrolyte balance, and causes dysfunction in the kidneys.  A good way to prevent dehydration is to of course drink more water, but also to add 1/4 tsp of himalayan pink salt to your water every morning.  This will help normalize the electrolyte dysfunction.

It’s always important to rule out any infection in the kidneys as well.  This usually causes other symptoms such as a fever, abdominal pain, painful urination (also stones) dull kidney pain, nausea, vomiting.  If you suspect this, you should seek emergency care, as this can cause serious problems.

So, how does kidney dys-function cause low back pain???

The kidneys have a close tie with an extremely important low back muscle called the psoas muscle.

These muscles have the same nerves innervating them as the kidneys.  As you can see in the photo above, these muscles actually connect to the bones in your low back.  If there is dysfunction in your kidneys for whatever reason, this causes the psoas muscles to shut off, which completely de-stabilizes your back!  So, not only can you have kidney pain, you can also get low back pain, some even a sciatica type pain because there is zero stabilization in the low back.

There are reflex points, similar to meridians in acupuncture that can relax the kidneys, and allow the system to calm down.  Sometimes people who have even had a kidney removed can get low back pain from the kidneys, because that nerve system is still there!  It’s like a circuit breaker.  If the system is not placed in balance, then it won’t be even after an organ is removed!  These reflex points are a very vital part of my treatments for those with chronic low back pain that have a kidney connection.  Some people just need the circuit system to be in balance for the psoas muscles to be turned back on and start stabilizing the low back again.  Others, need kidney support and need to detoxify and cleanse out this organ so that the psoas muscles will start returning to normal.  I use a variety of homeopathics and herbs to do this job.

***In pregnancy, as the organs move around, the kidneys can actually travel to other parts of the abdomen and cause problems.  This usually happens when the kidneys sink a little below where they are suppose to be.  By doing a kidney “lift” I can help to relieve the pain from the kidneys from this issue as well.

The Pain can just be in the typical low back pain region.  But more commonly if there is a kidney connection, the pain will travel into the front of the pelvis and groin.  It can be a sharp, dull or tingling type pain depending.  As mentioned before, it can also cause sciatic type pain, which is pain traveling down into your legs.

I have helped many patients with low back pain originating from their kidneys.  Most of the time it is low back pain that others cannot figure out.

If you or anyone you know is suffering from any of these conditions, please don’t hesitate to tell them about my services.!

That is all for now. 
Wishing you all a happy and healthy week.

Dr. Hamel 

Are you interested in hosting a class to learn more about essential oils?  These are fun and a great way to learn more about the amazing, effective, natural substances from earth! There are free products as well!  I don’t go anywhere without mine.  Email Dr. Hamel if you are interested, and she will reach out to you for more information.

The next essential oils class is April 22 at 10:30 AM.  Let me know if you are interested in attending.