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A quick guide to the what and why of Interstitial Cystitis / Bladder Pain Syndrome

What is Bladder Pain Syndrome?

The first thing to say about Bladder Pain Syndrome is what it’s Not….

Initially people went to their doctors with the symptoms of a chronic infection – a urinary tract infection or cystitis. They had an urgent need to pass urine, felt like they needed to go often and it would be accompanied by pain in the bladder region, perineum (between the legs) or in the urethra (tube from the bladder). However this went on much longer than an infection should, and often after taking antibiotics. The lining of the bladder is called the interstitium and so it was thought that when people presented with this group of symptoms they had a chronic infection of the bladder lining. This is how the name Interstitial Cystitis came around.

It’s now understood that Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome is much more complex, and many people do not have a chronic infection of the bladder or urethral lining. Even If they do have a chronic...

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