This means people who are prone may be able to use their diet to help stop the condition returning.
"Most people who have kidney stones carry them without realising," explains Dr Ivo Dukic, consultant urological surgeon at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
"Small stones can sit quietly in the kidney and there can be no hint anything's wrong."
Doctors often find these 'silent stones' by accident, in ultrasounds or CT scans they're doing for other reasons.
"Over time, some stones will grow or move and lead to the classic symptoms of a sharp pain in the side, blood in the urine, or repeated urinary tract infections," says Dukic.
The pain "typically goes towards the front of the abdomen and can be associated with wanting to pass urine more frequently and rushing to get to the toilet.
"[Medical] treatment is only needed if they grow, cause pain or urinary tract infections, or put the kidney at risk by blocking its drainage system."