25 Warning Signs Your Kidneys Send You

1 Pain under your ribs

While many associate kidney problems with lower back pain, it actually pains near your rib cage that’s more likely to indicate a kidney problem. “Your kidneys are actually higher than you think and anatomically positioned beneath your ribs,” explains Jennifer Linehan, MD, urologist and associate professor of urologic oncology at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.