Interstitial cystitis is an inflammation of the tissues of the bladder wall.
Pain may also accompany sexual intercourse. Unlike bacterial cystitis , which is an actual infection of the bladder, there is no obvious cause for interstitial cystitis. The condition is neither well-recognized nor easily diagnosed. For the average person with interstitial cystitis, there is a 4 year delay between the time the first symptoms occur and the condition is diagnosed. This demonstrates both the difficulty of diagnosis and how infrequently this condition is suspected.