Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome is a condition that causes long-term pain or discomfort in your bladder and abdominal area, along with urinary frequency and painful urinary urgency. Doctors don’t know what causes it exactly, but causes may include autoimmune diseases, allergies, pelvic floor muscle tightness, nerve-related issues and/or issues with your bladder lining.
Your bladder is a hollow, muscular organ that stores urine. The bladder expands until it's full and then tells your brain through pelvic nerves that it's time to pass urine. This creates the urge to pass urine for most people. With interstitial cystitis, these signals get mixed up — you feel the need to pass urine more often and with smaller volumes of urine than most people. Also that feeling of needing to pass urine can feel painful for those with interstitial cystitis.
Interstitial cystitis affects women much more often than men. Symptoms may include pain in your bladder region, pressure or discomfort when your bladder is filling, urinary frequency, urinary urgency and only peeing a small amount.
There is no cure for interstitial cystitis but there are many ways to treat it. The goal of treatment is to relieve symptoms. Treatments include:
- Diet changes
- Physical activity
- Stress and anxiety reduction
- Physical therapy
- Bladder retraining
- Oral medications
- Bladder instillations
- Bladder stretching (hydrodistension)
- Nerve stimulation
- Botulinum toxin injections
- Surgery
The following tips may help reduce the length and severity of interstitial cystitis flare-ups:
- Take medicines that help reduce your symptoms as soon as you feel a flare-up start.
- Drink extra water to help dilute your urine.
- Place an ice pack or heating pad on your abdominal area or perineum (the space between your genitals and rectum).
- Take a warm sitz bath.
- Avoid foods that may irritate the bladder further such as caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods and citrus.
- Help relax your pelvic floor muscles by squatting with your legs wide apart. You can also try the “happy baby” yoga pose — lie on your back, press your knees against your chest, point the soles of your feet toward the ceiling and grab the outsides of your feet.
- Try relaxation techniques.
- Avoid tight clothing that presses on your abdomen, including tight pants, hosiery, tights.
- If sex triggers flare-ups, take pain-relieving medicines before sex and use lubricants during sex to reduce discomfort.
Most people who have interstitial cystitis need treatment for their entire lives. If they don’t get treatment, their symptoms may return. They may even have flare-ups while they’re actively in treatment. Some people respond well to treatment. Their symptoms slowly improve and even go away.
For more details on interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome, check out the links below:
Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Web Article
Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Fact Sheet
Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Podcast