Having to go to the bathroom repeatedly throughout the day and with great urgency can be annoying and end up affecting a person's daily activities.
Both common cystitis (or urinary tract infection) and interstitial cystitis (or painful bladder syndrome) are problems that affect the urinary system. In both, there is an urgent and frequent need to urinate, sometimes with pain, which can become a problem for the affected person. They are more common than they seem, and quality of life is what suffers the most. Imagine what your day would be like if you had gotten up more than 10 times during the night to go to the bathroom. Lack of sleep or interrupted sleep means that the body does not rest properly, which is reflected in your daily energy, your productivity, and even your personal relationships.
Even so, the main difference between interstitial cystitis and common cystitis is that the latter is easy to treat, usually with antibiotic medication, because the infection is caused by bacteria; whereas interstitial cystitis (or painful bladder syndrome) is not, since its causes are unknown and it is of a chronic nature because it does not respond to treatment.
Another difference lies in the urine pH. In common cystitis, or urinary tract infection, a high urinary pH is observed due to bacterial proliferation, so the treatment consists of antibiotics to combat these bacteria and eliminate the infection, as well as measures to try to lower the urinary pH.
In contrast, in interstitial cystitis, or painful bladder syndrome, the urine pH is acidic, which contributes to the irritation of the nerve fibers of the bladder and ultimately causes painful stimuli in the area. Symptoms can be chronic or episodic, appearing and subsiding suddenly depending on the stage of the disease. They can also be confused with those of other common urinary tract conditions, which makes diagnosis difficult.
Currently, there is no treatment that can eliminate painful bladder syndrome. However, studies show that maintaining urine above a urinary pH of 6.2 for just 4 weeks would help reduce the clinical symptomatology of this pathology. Or as a last resort, bladder removal can be opted for, under the advice of a specialist.
To try to reduce pain and provide temporary improvement, certain measures can be adopted: changes in lifestyle and diet will help cope with these two diseases that appear very similar at first glance, but with very distinct particularities.
