This medication is instilled directly into the bladder. It is to act as an anti-inflammatory agent and hence to relieve the pain. It is assumed that it leads to the formation of a thin protective lining on the bladder wall. The urgency is reduced and the capacity of the bladder is increased. As a rule this is a last resort measure and also the most controversial approach.
Psychosocial care is useful and important.
A psychologist should be called in during the treatment. IC patients do not need a wheelchair to get about, they cannot claim to have had a heart attack and do not look disabled in any way. But whoever knows this disease, must endure it, suffers unimaginable pain which an outsider can hardly understand. And in most cases IC causes depression anyway. Every small success is an encouragement to continue to support patients affected by this severe disease.