Stone Formula targets shi lin, or "stony, painful urinary dysfunction". In this pattern damp-heat accumulates in the lower burner, eventually leading to a drying of fluids and finally congeals into urinary tract calculi. The pathogenesis of damp-heat includes the excessive consumption of hot, spicy, heavy, greasy and sweet foods, excessive amounts of alcohol, eating irregularities such as eating in a hurry, worrying while eating, or skipping meals, emotional disturbances resulting in Liver Qi stagnation, as well as the external invasion of damp-heat.

In some chronic cases damp-heat is a result of other organ dysfunction, frequently Kidney Yin deficiency. Integration of Chinese medicine and western medicine would be a good choice for this disease. When treating kidney stone, Chinese doctors will take everything into consideration, including the following conditons.

1. Struvite stones. Struvite stones form in response to an infection, such as a urinary tract infection. These stones can grow quickly and become quite large, sometimes with few symptoms or little warning.

2. Uric acid stones. Uric acid stones can form in people who don't drink enough fluids or who lose too much fluid, those who eat a high-protein diet, and those who have gout. Certain genetic factors also may increase your risk of uric acid stones.

3. Calcium stones. Most kidney stones are calcium stones, usually in the form of calcium oxalate. Oxalate is a naturally occurring substance found in food. Some fruits and vegetables, as well as nuts and chocolate, have high oxalate levels. Your liver also produces oxalate. Dietary factors, high doses of vitamin D, intestinal bypass surgery and several metabolic disorders can increase the concentration of calcium or oxalate in urine. Calcium stones may also occur in the form of calcium phosphate.

4. Cystine stones. These stones form in people with a hereditary disorder that causes the kidneys to excrete too much of certain amino acids (cystinuria).