Interstitial cystitis

For a lay person:

Interstitial cystitis (bladder pain syndrome) is long-term bladder pain or pressure with a frequent, urgent need to urinate, without an infection.

For a trained medical person:

Chronic bladder pain syndrome diagnosed by symptoms after excluding infection and other pathology; cystoscopy may show Hunner lesions. Management includes education, diet, physiotherapy, oral and intravesical treatments.

In Chinese medicine:

Flaws and Sionneau's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Lower Jiao Damp-Heat; Liver depression and damp accumulation; Spleen Qi Deficiency; Straitened spleen; Blood Stasis; Kidney Yin Deficiency; Kidney Yang Deficiency. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: See a doctor for fever, blood in the urine or pain on one side of the back.