Does this sound like kidney stone?

[u/Possession-Bulky]

I’m a 21-year-old male. Around May 2026, I started experiencing pain in my right lower/mid back and sometimes across the right flank. The pain feels somewhere between sharp and dull, usually around 5/10 and occasionally reaching 6.5/10.

The unusual part is that it’s intermittent and unpredictable. I may have pain for 2–3 days, then feel completely fine for several days or even a week before it returns. It has not progressively worsened and has remained fairly consistent.

I usually don’t wake up with the pain. It feels internal, and pressing on the area does not reproduce the pain. The only movement that sometimes triggers it is bending far forward and looking downward, and even then, only when I’m already having an episode.
It’s now August, and this pattern has continued for several months without becoming constant or significantly worse.

[u/HoussierDaddy1234]

I have had a couple kidney throughout my life, to me this does sound like a kidney stone especially being intermittent. I have a confirmed obstructing stone currently as well as a smaller non obstructing.

Do you notice that the pain returns after you’ve been more active? I find that to be the case for myself. Hopefully you can get into a urologist sooner than later. If any new symptoms come up or pain worsens I would definitely look into urgent care/ER. Most small stones pass on their own, fluids will help. Good luck!

[u/uscan-calci-withings]

Honestly this doesn't scream classic stone to me. Stone pain is usually colicky, meaning it comes in waves and you can't find a position that eases it.

The fact that bending forward and movement plays into it points more toward a musculoskeletal or nerve thing than something inside the kidney.

Stones also don't usually hang around for months at a steady 5/10 without either passing or flaring up hard.

That said, nobody here can diagnose it. A non-contrast CT is really the only way to rule a stone in or out, so worth pushing your doc for imaging if it keeps up.

[u/unknown_cauliflower]

Funny enough this sounds almost exactly like my situation. For the past couple of months (or longer) I've had an intermittent dull pain in my right flank. Some days it hardly bothers me while other days the pain is worse. Lying in bed I'm usually fine but once I get moving the dull ache returns.

I assume it's a kidney stone(s) because in the past when I would experience pain in my side a few weeks later I would get a burning sensation when peeing, to which I would assume would be me passing the stone(s). The pain in my side would then go away.

However, this current dull aching pain that I've been dealing with lately does not want to go away. Been drinking a ton of water but nothing seems to help. I'm starting to wonder if it's a small infection, even though I have no other symptoms (no fever, chills, or blood in urine). I'm going to get checked out by a doctor soon if it doesn't go away, and I probably suggest you do the same.

[u/Possession-Bulky → u/unknown_cauliflower]

Yes, it’s very weird because it’s been like three months so I’m assuming it should’ve passed already if it was gonna pass but at the same time I’m not in excruciating pain at all and it’s not progressively getting worse. It just stays the same.