The feeling of pain or unpleasant pressure in the region of urinary bladder is increased when the bladder fills with urine, and is eased or stops after voiding.

The pain apart from the lower abdomen (bladder region), can be extended to lumbar region, upper part of thighs or inguinal regions.

The illness is 9 times more frequent in women than in men.

In men testicular, penile or perineal pain, are not infrequent phenomena, and for this reason the majority of men were given the diagnosis of Chronic Prostatitis even though in reality they suffer from IC.

In women IC can coexist with vaginal pain, pain in the urethra or pain during sexual contact (dyspareunia). The symptoms can begin suddenly without any obvious reason, but sometimes they follow a surgical intervention (hysterectomy or childbirth in women) or urinary tract infection.

Sudden exacerbations and recessions is another characteristic of Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder syndrome. A lot of women find their symptoms to become worse just before menses, or at menopause.

Independently of gender, patients often experience deterioration of symptoms during period of stress, thus the psychological situation of patient plays an important role in the way which the  Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder syndrome presents and influences patient’s life.

Urinary urgency is the main reason for patient’s psychological status and  quality of life deterioration. The person affected is no longer capable to travel or even to work or to come out of the house for the simple every day tasks. Her or his main concern is the existence of a toilet in a handy distance.

The cause of  Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder syndrome  is still unknown. The most widely accepted option is that IC is a multifactorial disease. These factors can be immunological, allergic, neurogenic, microbial, viral or even environmental which have as common result the worsened inflammation of urinary bladder.

Interstitial cystitis (IC) /Painful Bladder syndrome sometimes can be combined with a number of diseases: Muscular or Articular pain, Chronic Fatigue syndrome, Irritable Bowel syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Vulvodynia, various Allergies, Rheumatoid arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, and Thyroid diseases.

The correct diagnosis is usually difficult and many times delayed, maximizing thus the patient’s discomfort.

This difficulty comes mainly from the fact that doctors don’t consider this disease entity as diagnostic possibility, and that there are not robust criteria for direct diagnosis.

Along with some clinical and laboratory criteria the diagnosis is placed by cystoscopy and concomitant urinary bladder biopsy.

You can see here a typical cystoscopic view of an Interstitial Cystitis case, with the characteristic hemorrhagic spots.

Unfortunately there is not specific treatment or any kind of “panacea” for Interstitial cystitis /Painful Bladder syndrome.

Instead of this and because does not exist medicine which is equally effective in the all patients, we have to individualise the treatment for every patient special needs.

Dr . Kalyvas’ Comment:

Generally speaking the therapeutic possibilities in Interstitial cystitis /Painful Bladder syndrome are various and include special directions on diet, modification of certain habits and behaviours, selected pharmaceutical treatment, intravesical drug instillations, bladder distension under anaesthesia, Electrostimulation, Laser treatments, and in resisting cases surgical interventions such as intravesical Botox injection, INTERSTIM placement, and finally Augmentation Cystoplasty. 

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