About 11% of American men have a kidney stone at some point in their lives. At Kane Health in Atherton, California, Chris Threatt, MD, combines his two areas of special skills, urology and men’s health, to provide the highest standard of kidney stone care. During lithotripsy, shockwaves break up the kidney stones so that you can naturally eliminate them. The same technology also helps with erectile dysfunction and Peyronie’s disease. Call the office or click on the online scheduler for help today.
Lithotripsy is a treatment for kidney stones — hard mineral deposits that collect in your kidneys. The most common kidney stones are calcium, struvite, uric acid, and cystine stones.
While some kidney stones pass naturally during urination, others become stuck because they’re too large to pass. In that case, Dr. Threatt can recommend lithotripsy.
During lithotripsy, Dr. Threatt uses extracorporeal therapy, also called shockwave or sound wave therapy, to break up kidney stones. Dr. Threatt uses ultrasound or X-ray imaging to find your kidney stones.
You’ll lie on a cushion for this treatment. The shockwaves pass through the cushion and into the stones. Lithotripsy involves rapid delivery of many shockwaves — about 1,000-2,000 per stone.
These shockwaves shatter the kidney stones, leaving them in such small fragments that you can pass them during normal urination over the next couple of weeks. Up to 90% of people who undergo lithotripsy have no remaining kidney stones within 90 days of their treatment.
As an experienced urologist and men’s health specialist, Dr. Threatt can perform a comprehensive evaluation to determine if lithotripsy is the right treatment for your kidney stones.
Determining the right treatment includes the stones’ size, location, and mineral composition. If you’re not a good candidate for lithotripsy, Dr. Threatt will discuss alternatives, including surgery.
While lithotripsy is a treatment strictly used for kidney stones, the technology used in lithotripsy (shockwave therapy) has other uses in men’s health. For example, GAINSwave® therapy uses the same shockwave technology to work in several ways to treat erectile dysfunction, including:
All of these benefits improve your erections and help you enjoy a better sex life for as long as two years. GAINSwave also effectively treats Peyronie’s disease.
If you’re struggling with kidney stones, erectile dysfunction, or Peyronie’s disease, advanced shockwave technology can solve the problem and get you back to your active life. Book your appointment today by calling Kane Health or clicking on the online scheduling link.