Skip to main content
        
        U.S. flag
                An official website of the United States government
                    Here’s how you know
                Here’s how you know**Official websites use .gov**
                        
                        A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
            **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                        
                        A **lock** (
                        Locked padlock icon
                        ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.Search
    Menu

        Search for Information from NIDDK
            
            Entire Site
                Research & Funding
                Health Information
                News
                About NIDDKSearch

Home
            Research & Funding
                                Expand Research & Funding
                                Current Funding Opportunities
                                                    Research Programs & Contacts
                                                    Human Subjects Research
                                                    Funding Process
                                            Research Training & Career Development
                                                    Funded Grants & Grant History
                                                    Research Resources
                                            Research at NIDDK
                                                    Technology Advancement & Transfer
                                                    Meetings & Workshops
                        Health Information
                                Expand Health Information
                                Health Topics
                                                                                                    Diabetes
                                                    Digestive Diseases
                                                    Kidney Disease
                                                    Weight Management
                                                    Liver Disease
                                                    Urologic Diseases
                                                    Endocrine Diseases
                                                    Diet & Nutrition
                                                    Blood Diseases
                                                    Diagnostic Tests
                                            La información de la salud en español
                                                    Health Statistics
                                                    Healthy Moments Radio Broadcast
                                                    Clinical Trials
                                            For Health Professionals
                                                    Diabetes Discoveries & Practice Blog
                                                    Community Health & Outreach
                        News
                                Expand News
                                News Archive
                                                    For Reporters
                                            Meetings & Workshops
                                                    Media Library
                                            Follow Us
                        About NIDDK
                                Expand About NIDDK
                                Meet the Director
                                                    Offices & Divisions
                                                    Staff Directory
                                                    Budget & Legislative Information
                                            Advisory & Coordinating Committees
                                                    Strategic Plans & Reports
                                                    Research Areas
                                                    FAQs
                                            Jobs at NIDDK
                                                    Visit Us
                                                    Contact Us Home
                    Health Information
                    Urologic Diseases
                    Interstitial Cystitis (Painful Bladder Syndrome)
                    Treatment

    Related Topics
    English
        English
                Español
        Interstitial Cystitis (Painful Bladder Syndrome)
        Definition & Facts
                Symptoms & Causes
                Diagnosis
                Treatment
                Eating, Diet, & Nutrition
                Clinical TrialsTreatment for Interstitial Cystitis
How do doctors treat IC?
Researchers have not found one treatment for interstitial cystitis (IC) that works for everyone. Doctors aim current treatments at relieving symptoms in each person on an individual basis.
A health care professional will work with you to find a treatment plan that meets your needs. Your plan may include
lifestyle changes
    bladder training
    physical therapy
    medicines
    bladder proceduresSome treatments may work better for you than others. You also may need to use a combination of these treatments to relieve your symptoms.
A health care professional may ask you to fill out a form, called a symptom scale, with questions about how you feel. The symptom scale may allow a health care professional to better understand how you are responding to treatment.
You may have to try several different treatments before you find one that works for you. Your symptoms may disappear with treatment, a change in what you eat, or without a clear reason. Even when your symptoms go away, they may return after days, weeks, months, or even years. Researchers do not know why. With time, you and your doctor should be able to find a treatment that gives you some relief and helps you cope with IC.
Lifestyle changes
**Change your eating and drinking habits.** Some people with IC find that certain foods or drinks trigger their symptoms. Others find no link between symptoms and what they eat. However, be sure to drink enough water to stay hydrated. Talk with your health care professional about how much liquid you should drink to prevent dehydration based on your health, how active you are, and where you live. Read more about eating, diet, and nutrition and how they relate to IC.
**Quit smoking.** Some people feel that smoking makes their IC symptoms worse. Researchers don’t know exactly how tobacco affects IC. However, smoking is a major cause of bladder cancer. If you smoke, one of the best things you can do for your bladder and overall health is to quit.
If you smoke or use other tobacco products, stop. Ask for help so you don’t have to do it alone. You can start by calling the national quitline at 1-800-QUITNOW or 1-800-784-8669. For tips on quitting, go to Smokefree.gov.
**Reduce stress.** Researchers don’t think stress causes IC, yet stress can trigger painful symptom flares in some people with IC. If you feel stressed, try relaxation techniques and other activities that might soothe you, such as
looking at nature around you
    listening to soft music
    noticing smells around you
    savoring each bite of a special treat
    breathing gently**Be physically active.** If you have IC, you may feel that the last thing you want to do is be physically active. However, many people feel that easy activities like walking or gentle stretching exercises help relieve symptoms.
**Get support.** Having the emotional support of family, friends, and other people with IC is a very important part of helping you cope. People who learn about the disorder and become involved in their own care do better than people who do not.
Bladder training
Bladder training may help your bladder hold more urine. People with bladder pain often get in the habit of using the bathroom as soon as they are aware of any need to go to avoid pain or urgency. They then feel the need to go before the bladder is really full. The body may get used to urinating often. Bladder training helps your bladder hold more urine before your body tells you to urinate.
Keep a bladder diary (PDF, 79 KB)  to track how you are doing. Start by writing down the times when you urinate. For example, you may find that you return to the bathroom every 40 minutes. Try to wait a few more minutes and gradually stretch out the time between urinating. This may be easier if you are well hydrated. Read more about the importance of getting enough liquids in your diet.
If your bladder becomes painful, use the bathroom. You may find that your first urge to use the bathroom goes away if you ignore it. Find ways to relax or distract yourself when the first urge strikes.
After a week or two, you may be able to stretch the time out to 50 or 60 minutes, and you may find that the urge to urinate does not return as soon.
Bowel training
Your doctor may suggest that you try to train yourself to have a bowel movement at the same time each day to help you become more regular, also called bowel training. Consider keeping track of your bowel movements. Some people report that having regular bowel movements helps their IC symptoms. Talk with your health care professional if you are having bowel control problems, such as
diarrhea
    constipation
    fecal incontinencePhysical therapy
If you have IC symptoms or pelvic floor muscle spasm, your doctor may suggest that you work with a physical therapist who specializes in pelvic floor problems. The physical therapist will work to stretch tight pelvic floor muscles and help you keep them relaxed.
Medicines
Your doctor may suggest that you take over-the-counter (OTC) pain medicine to help control mild bladder pain, including:
acetaminophen (Tylenol)
    aspirin (Bayer)
    ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)Talk with your doctor if you feel you need a stronger pain medicine. If you have severe pain, you may need your doctor to prescribe narcotic analgesics, or pain-relieving medicines, such as acetaminophen with codeine or longer-acting narcotics.
In some people, however, certain antidepressants, sinus medicines, and pain relievers may trigger symptom flares. Talk with your health care professional if these medicines make your IC worse.
Long-term use of pain medicines can be dangerous. Talk with your doctor about how to safely manage your chronic, or long-term, pain—possibly with the help of a pain specialist, a doctor who diagnoses, treats, and manages pain. You may also want to discuss alternatives to pain medicines or complementary pain medicines.
If lifestyle changes, bladder training, physical therapy, and pain medicines don’t do enough to relieve your IC symptoms, your doctor may prescribe other medicines, including:
pentosan polysulfate (Elmiron)
    tricyclic antidepressants or antihistamines
    cyclosporineAll medicines, even OTC medicines, have side effects. Always consult a doctor before using any medicine or supplement for more than a few days.
A woman with medicines in her hand and a glass of waterIf lifestyle changes, physical activity, and over-the-counter pain medicines don’t do enough to relieve your interstitial cystitis (IC) symptoms, your doctor may prescribe medicines for you.Bladder instillation
Some people who have IC find relief after a treatment in which a doctor puts a small amount of liquid medicine into the bladder, called bladder instillation or a bladder wash or bath. The doctor guides a tube called a catheter into your bladder and slowly adds a liquid that eases irritation of the bladder wall. The liquid may be a compound called dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or a solution that contains heparin, steroids, and a topical anesthetic, such as short-acting lidocaine, or long-acting marcaine.
You will be asked to keep the liquid in your bladder for about 15 minutes and then release it. You can have this treatment once every week or every other week for 1 or 2 months. You may not feel any better until the third or fourth treatment.
Bladder stretching
A doctor may use a procedure called bladder stretching, or hydrodistention, to treat your bladder pain, if only for a short time. Bladder stretching occurs when a doctor stretches your bladder by filling it with fluid. You will be given a local or general anesthesia to help you tolerate the bladder stretching.
Some people have temporary relief of their symptoms after this treatment. Researchers are not exactly sure why bladder stretching helps some people. Stretching may temporarily block pain signals sent by nerves in the bladder.
Sometimes your pain symptoms may temporarily get worse 4 to 48 hours after bladder stretching. However, your pain levels should return to your previous level or improve within 2 to 4 weeks.
Surgery
Most people with IC do not require surgery. If you’ve tried every other option and your pain is still unbearable, you and your doctor may consider surgery to either
make the bladder larger, a procedure called bladder augmentation,
    remove the bladder, called cystectomy, or
    reroute the normal flow of urine, called urinary diversionTalk with your doctor and family about the possible benefits and side effects of bladder surgery. Surgery does not cure the pain of IC in all cases.        Last Reviewed July 2017
Sharethis page

Print
    Facebook
    X
    Email
    
    More Options
    
    WhatsApp
    LinkedIn
    Reddit
    Pinterest
    
    Copy Link
                *Previous:*
                Diagnosis
            *Next:*
                Eating, Diet, & Nutrition

                This content is provided as a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. NIDDK translates and disseminates research findings to increase knowledge and understanding about health and disease among patients, health professionals, and the public. Content produced by NIDDK is carefully reviewed by NIDDK scientists and other experts. Contact Us
**Hours:** 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday**Email:** healthinfo@niddk.nih.gov**Phone:** +1-800-860-8747**TTY:** +711
Chat
Live Chat Available8:30 a.m - 5 p.m. ETMonday - Friday
Follow Us
LinkedIn
X
Facebook
YouTube
InstagramNIH... Turning Discovery Into Health ®
Privacy Policy
    Freedom of Information Act
    Accessibility
    Disclaimers
    Copyright
    Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
Site Map
    For Staff Only
    Get Email Updates
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
    National Institutes of Health