Patient Question: Where is kidney pain referred to?

Good question. You can feel your kidney in different areas. If it’s inflamed or infected you typically feel it in you mid back and that area can be tender to bumping it. When the kidney swells a person can feel abdominal pain and have nausea. Typically it’s not your shoulder (the question you asked). When a person passes a kidney stone the pain can start in the back and move down into the lower abdomen or groin. When a stone is about to go into the bladder patients feel and urge to urinate more often and male patients can have pain referred to their testicle and penis.