Kidney Stone Size Chart (MM & CM) | Renal Calculus Treatments W.R.T. Size

Why a kidney stone size chart is important? This is because the size of the stone says a lot; in fact, all about your recovery (the duration, the process, the healing, etc.).

Therefore, it is imperative to know the size of the stone that has formed or is still forming in your kidneys, causing stressful conditions including fever, chills, painful urination, and even bleeding pee.

The symptoms that a person experiences by having kidney stones also vary the size. For instance, not all kidney stones cause blood in the urine and are painful.

Our kidney stone size chart “Visual Guide” will help you understand the whole kit and caboodle of the situation and its cures.

Kidney Stone Size Guide

“The smaller a kidney stone is, the less painful and easier to cure it and vice versa.”

Renal calculus and nephrolith are the scientific names for kidney stones. Health professionals or house doctors also refer to them as nephrolithiasis, urolithiasis, or urinary stones.

Kindy Stone Size:

Kidney stones are measured in two different sizes: millimeters and centimeters.

• A millimeter is the one-thousandth of a meter
• A centimeter equals the one-hundredth of a meter.

You can understand using this example: The size of a kidney stone can be as small as a sand grain or as big as a pea. However, in rare cases, when not taken care of properly, they can grow as big as the size of a golf ball.  

Along with different sizes, they can have different asymmetrical shapes; however, this doesn’t depend on the size of a kidney stone.

The Shape:

Kidney stone shapes can be smooth or jagged.

Stones are not round but can be of rough shapes and appear in sizes as small as 2 mm or as big as a tennis ball. The latter is the more dangerous and requires immediate medical attention.

Kidney Stone Colors:

Kidney stone color is determined by the makings created them.

Kidney stones are formed due to calcium oxalate, uric acid, struvite, and cystine. That’s why they can be either brown-colored or yellow, depending on the cause that created them.

The Symptoms:

Painful symptoms become severe with an increase in the kidney stone size; the smaller a stone is, the less painful it will be.

From mild to severe, people experience different symptoms, depending on the kidney stone size.

You may feel nausea, vomiting, fever with chills, foul-smelling or cloudy urine, difficulty in urination, and blood in the urine.  

The Cure:

Most calculus passes through your body without the help of a medical professional; you don’t even experience any painful symptoms. This all depends on the mass of the stone; we will discuss this in the lines coming ahead of the kidney stone size chart.

Small kidney stones pass through the urinary tract without pain or cure, while pain and treatments become difficult as the size increase.

• Some of them need a little care at home, and they pass through the urinary tract using simple home remedies.
• Stones that increase a bit in size will need doctors to take care of the painful signs. Drs. will recommend some lifestyle changes and at-home tonics to get rid of them.
• However, some kidney stones do not pass through the bladder and need surgeries and other cure options for elimination.

Following, we are mentioning kidney stone size charts in mm and cm to give you an idea about the possible treatment concerning the magnitude of calculi.

Kidney Stone Size Chart in mm

MM is a smaller unit of measurement of size. MM stands for micrometer or millimeter. A micrometer is much smaller than a millimeter, and kidney stone size is measured in millimeters.

The smallest kidney stone can be equivalent to the size of a sand grain, not easy to detect and see with the naked eye. However, kidney stones don’t require spotting because they pass through urine without medication or home remedies.

The kidney stone size chart added below will discuss the size of pebbles in millimeters, starting from < 2mm.

Less Than 2mm to 3 mm Kidney Stone:

Kidney stones less than 2mm up to 3mm can take around 12 days to pass on their own.

If there are smaller than 2 millimeters, 2 millimeters, or 3 millimeters kidney stones, they will create no problem in your routine task and usually pass out through urine without causing pain.

Sometimes, people don’t have an idea if there is a stone in their kidneys. However, some over-the-counter, easy home remedies are recommended with simple lifestyle changes such as drinking plenty of water or avoiding certain food items.

4mm to 5 mm Kidney Stone:

4mm up to 5mm Kidney stones pass through urine in a month or 31 days.

When a calculus reaches 4 to 5 millimeters, it is not normal and needs attention. You can experience symptoms like throwing up, back pain, and in the worst cases, fever with chills.

Here, the professional physician would recommend you to take some tests and then suggest lifestyle changes accordingly, like which food you will be avoiding from now on that has caused a pebble in your kidneys.

You will also be given painkillers to consume if the pain gets severe or unbearable.

6 mm to 7 mm Kidney Stone:

Kidney stones having sizes of 6 or 7 millimeters can take around 12 months.

In the kidney stone size chart, this is the largest kidney stone to measure in millimeters. This can be very disturbing and painful and will affect your work routine. You might have to go for the complete best rest in this regard.

No home remedies can help you here, and you will have to undergo various examinations, X-rays, endoscopies, and other examinations.

Your doctor can recommend Ureteroscopy. During this, a small telescope is passed through the urethra and bladder to point to the location of the stone.

However, it is not a major surgery or something to worry about. This is typically called an outpatient procedure, which means your doctor will allow you to go home the same day after the treatment.

Kidney Stone Size Chart in cm

In rare cases, kidney stone size grows much more extensive than usual, so it can no longer be measured in millimeters, such as the size of a golf ball.

The bigger calculi are measured in cm or centimeters. All stones measured in centimeters, regardless of the size, need serious medical help and cannot be treated at home using home remedies or simply consuming painkillers.

The kidney stone size chart added below will discuss the size of pebbles in centimeters, starting from 1 cm.

1-2 Centimeter Kidney Stone:

These kidney stones can be the size of peas, like smaller or bigger seeds of a peapod. A person with a 1cm stone will experience all the painful symptoms and signs of this issue.

For treatment, lithotripsy is recommended. It is a procedure of breaking the large stone into small pieces to pass through the urinary system easily. Ultrasonic energy or shock waves are used during the process.

3 Centimeter or More Kidney Stones:

The size of a 3cm kidney stone is just like the seed of a peapod but not smooth. Its corners are rough or jagged. A person can experience vomiting, fever with chills, severe episodes of pain in the back, and much more.

These stones cannot pass on their own because of their enlarged size. So, percutaneous nephrolithotomy is recommended. It is a procedure to remove kidney stones from the body which is not passing through the urinary tract.

A hole on the back of the kidney is made to take the stone out. PCNL is major surgery, and you might have to stay at the hospital or be under observation for several days.

Read ➔ Stages of passing a kidney stone

Bottom Line

This is all about the Kidney Stone Size Chart guide. We have added a video guide and some explanations on different renal calculi or nephroliths sizes.

Millimeters and centimeters are two sizes in which kidney stones are measured. MM is a smaller unit, and kidney stones pass through the urinary tract using home remedies and painkillers.

However, kidney stones that grow bigger, like in centimeters, need special attention and counseling from the doctors, and different major procedures are performed to remove such calculi.

For more information, keep checking the Look Broad Health section.