If you are looking for a (fun) way to pass a painful kidney stone, look no further! This study focused on whether having regular sex helps pass kidney stones lodged in the lower end of the ureter (the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder). Over 80% of patients who were asked to have sex 3-4 times a week passed their stones, compared to about 35% of control patients. So it looks like urine luck!
“OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of sexual intercourse on spontaneous passage of distal ureteral stones.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: The patients were randomly divided into 3 groups with random number table envelope method. Patients in group 1 were asked to have sexual intercourse at least 3-4 times a week. Patients in group 2 were administered tamsulosin 0.4 mg/d. Patients in group 3 received standard medical therapy alone and acted as the controls. The expulsion rate was controlled after 2 and 4 weeks. Differences in the expulsion rate between groups were compared with the chi-square test for 3 × 2 tables. P
RESULTS: The mean stone size was 4.7 ± 0.8 mm in group 1, 5 ± 1 mm group 2, and 4.9 ± 0.8 mm group 3 (P = .4). Two weeks later, 26 of 31 patients (83.9%) in the sexual intercourse group, and 10 of 21 patients (47.6%) in tamsulosin group passed their stones, whereas 8 of 23 patients (34.8%) in the control group passed their stones (P = .001). The mean stone expulsion time was 10 ± 5.8 days in group 1, 16.6 ± 8.5 days in group 2, and 18 ± 5.5 days in group 3 (P = .0001).
CONCLUSION: Our results have indicated that patients who have distal ureteral stones ≤6 mm and a sexual partner may be advised to have sexual intercourse 3-4 times a week to increase the probability of spontaneous passage of the stones.”
