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What to wear: Nothing tight (i.e. leave the denim pants home). Wear comfortable, loose fitting clothing. I wore sweats.

If you are having it done in a water filled tub lithotriptor you might very well be totally skinning dipping, so to speak, or they might allow you to wear some skimpy underwear (like a bikini style bottom or thong).

If you are having it done on a water cushion lithotriptor (which is more common now) you are told to take all your clothes off but you wear an open backed examination or hospital gown before and during the procedure. It's not that embarrassing as the nurses, anesthetists, and doctors all seem to be very sensitive to your privacy and allow you to cover up as much as you can below the waist. The skin on the side where your kidney stone is to be shock waved needs to be in direct contact with the water cushion. For my procedure they even added a bit of warm water onto the water cushion for a better contact.

Think of the alternative: if your stone moves, and say badly obstructs, you will be naked on the hospital OR table in the stirruped litho position (the position women are in during GYN/OBN exams and childbirth). This could be more embarrassing for men, but I know women get rightly embarrassed by this too since it is doubly uncomfortable! Then your urologist has to go up through your penis, up through your bladder and up a ureter to blast or pull the stone out. I don't think anyone likes this treatment compared to ESWL!

They do sedate you for ESWL. Usually using conscious sedation. They sedate you enough so you don't move since you have to remain totally still so the shock waves stay focused on the stone(s). Some folks don't remember the procedure at all, others, like myself, remember the whole thing, albeit I was drowsy and relaxed, akin to getting nitrous oxide in the dentist's office so to speak. ESWL for me was not painful at all, I just felt slight pounding in the small of the back.

The recovery time? Ah, this is the variable! It depends just how fast your kidney and ureter can flush the stone out.Usually they ask you to strain all your urine to get all the fragments accounted for. Some folks feel okay the next day, more typically a few days. Some, like myself, it can be months(!) to pass all the fragments and gravel. It depends on the location of the stone and your own body habitus: everyone is different. Some folks have some soreness or pain, usually minor and intermittent, for awhile. But the pain is almost always not as severe as passing a stone that obstructs. Believe me if you have had the experience with passing a stone, one larger than 5mm, then you know that PAIN is a major four letter word!!!

The risks. A few, but almost usually not serious: some bleeding when you first urinate is common. Usually not much and during your first post-procedure void. You might even have a bruise there where the shockwaves were concentrated. I didn't though. You might get some stone passage pain since the fragments, though real small and able to pass, might be sharp or odd shaped. Some urologists (the compassionate ones) do give you stronger pain medication than the over the counter stuff (e.g. Oxycontin 5mg w/Tylenol 325mg) just in case you get some renal colic with the fragment passages since Tylenol sometimes just doesn't cut it on it's own in my experience.

Good Luck! It shouldn't be that bad. I would do ESWL again myself if I had to.

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