Interstitial Cystitis

Interstitial Cystitis

More than 3 million women in the US share the pain that interstitial cystitis brings. While IC brings suffering into your life, know that there are strength in numbers and everyday women like you are being empowered to speak up and seek treatment to overcome IC, which is a recurring pain, pressure, and/or discomfort that occurs in the bladder and/or pelvic region.

How do I know if I have Interstitial Cystitis?

Symptoms vary for each woman and may differ and change over time. If any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, please call us to setup an appointment so that we can discuss what you are going through and find you the solutions you’ve been anxiously awaiting. Some of your symptoms could include pain between the vagina and anus, Chronic Pelvic Pain (CPP), a persistent and frequent urge to urinate – sometimes up to 60 times a day, pain as the bladder fills up and then relief after urinating, and/or pain during sexual intercourse.

How did I get Interstitial Cystitis?

The cause of Interstitial Cystitis remains unknown. However, the fact that the cause or causes are unknown, doesn’t mean that we can’t provide you with solutions to this problem. A contributing factor to Interstitial Cystitis could be a tear or defect in the protective lining (epithelium) of the bladder, which could cause irritation to the bladder wall from toxins in your urine that leak through. Other possible causes of Interstitial Cystitis are heredity, infection, allergy, and/or an auto-immune reaction.

What are the treatments for Interstitial Cystitis?

As no one specific cause is known for Interstitial Cystitis, our doctors may need to try various treatments to find just the right one for you. For example, physical therapy focused on the pelvic region, bladder instillations or oral medications might be the best solution for you to relieve your pain.

Other women find that nerve stimulation and/or bladder distention is the right path toward pain relief. Finally, surgery is an option, but is recommended only after we have treated the Interstitial Cystitis through other methods mentioned above. The point is, we’ve got you covered! We will work diligently to find the best and most effective treatment option for you.

Therapies and treatments include:
  • Dietary modification
  • Pelvic floor relaxation physical therapy with bio-feedback
  • Bladder Installation Therapy
  • Elmiron
  • Bladder hydrodistention
  • Interstim scaral neuro modulation
  • Botox
  • Urinary diversion