Hi, thank you for your question. Your kidneys are located at each of your spine, just underneath the ribcage. The right kidney sits slightly lower than the left kidney.
There are many possible causes of left kidney pain. One of the common cause is urinary tract infection (UTI). UTI is the infection of your bladder or urethra (passageway through which the urine is carried to the outside of the body).

Symptoms of UTI include pain in flanks, stomach, back or groin, nausea and vomiting, fever, increased need to urinate, pain during urination and changes in urine colour. When UTI spreads to the kidneys, you may develop pyelonephritis (kidney infection). Kidney stones can also cause pain when it moves in the urine passageway. Symptoms of kidney stones include severe pain in flanks, stomach, back or groin, pain during urination, difficulty urinating, blood in urine, fever, nausea and vomiting.

Another possible cause is polycystic kidney disease. This is a disease where patients develop many cysts in the kidneys. Symptoms are pain in the flanks or back, swelling of the abdomen, frequent kidney infections and high blood pressure.

Pain in the left side of your body can also be caused by blood clots in kidney. This affects the blood supply to and fro the kidneys and cause symptoms like pain in the flanks, stomach or lower back and blood in the urine. Bleeding in kidney can cause pain as well. This can be due to injury or other diseases.

However, pain in your left kidney does not necessarily mean that you have kidney disease. It may be caused by problems in other organs near your left kidney. For example, muscle ache, nerve pain, joint pain, pancreatic disease, inflammation in rib joints or digestive issues.

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