There is a type of chronic pain that affects the bladder, the person feels constant, daily pain
in the bladder for many months and the doctors can’t find a cause or treatment for this problem.
Today, I’ll answer some questions: 1) How common is this problem?
2) What could be the cause of painful bladder? 3) Is there any strategy to
alleviate this symptom?
So, let’s talk about painful bladder today.
The bladder is an organ that sits inside the pelvis. It is the reservoir for urine produced
by the kidneys. It accumulates urine until it gets full. Then,
it sends signals to the brain when it is full and the person finds a convenient time to empty it.
The bladder contains receptors for pain, and they are usually activated when the
bladder is too full, and the pain can get very intense and uncomfortable,
so the person wills top anything they are doing to empty the bladder before the volume cause
any damage to the muscles around the bladder. Yes, the bladder contains muscles around it to
be able to contract and empty the bladder completely. Some people do not wait until
all the urine is drained, it is like they are always in a rush, so, if there is any
leftover urine in the bladder, it may grow bacteria, and lead to a bladder infection.
This is another common cause of painful bladder. If bacteria grows in the bladder it will cause an
inflammation. The person may notice blood in the urine and burning sensation when passing urine.
The treatment is with antibiotics and lots of fluids to wash the bladder
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So far we saw that the common causes of bladder pain are: when the bladder is too full and when
there is a bacterial infection, and we call this Urinary Tract Infection or UTI.
There are other causes of bladder pain like bladder tumour that is compressing the bladder,
endometriosis in females and enlargement of the prostate in males. If a person has kidney stones,
they may feel bladder pain when these stones reach the bladder. People with neurogenic bladder may
also feel bladder pain. There are many conditions that may cause neurogenic bladder, for example, a
spinal cord injury, stroke and multiple sclerosis. There is a condition called interstitial cystitis,
where there is a chronic painful bladder with some degree of inflammation of the walls of the
bladder. The person will feel a strong urge to urinate, they have frequent urination,
like many times every hour, they may also have pain in the vagina or scrotum. But the doctors
can’t find any bacterial grow, and these symptoms do not get better with antibiotics treatment. It
is a type of chronic pain that we don’t know the origin of it. Some researchers are investigating
if this is an auto immune disease, like the person’s immune system is attacking the bladder.
This condition may affect people who have other types of chronic pain, like fibromyalgia,
endometriosis, irritable bowel syndromes and chronic low back pain. So, this suggests that
there might be some sort of dysfunction of the pain system in people with interstitial cystitis.
These patients may have central sensitization of the pain system and they are unable to block pain
sensations because they do not activate the descending pathways that block pain.
Please remember that this video is not intended to give medical advice. If you have a condition
that is causing pain, talk to your doctor for a diagnosis and individual care plan for you. This
video is for educational purposes only. If there is a medical emergency please call an ambulance
or go to the nearest emergency department. In the absence of a better explanation for
chronic bladder pain, the best advice we give to our patients include the following 10 strategies:
1- Quit smoking. Smoking causes many problems to the body, including bladder cancer. If
you want to learn more about smoking and pain, watch my other video here.
2- Avoid drinking alcohol. Alcohol is an irritant to the bladder,
and it also causes other problems to the nerves, potentially causing neuropathic pain. In addition,
people who are heavy alcohol drinkers may lack vitamins and are more prone to cancer.
Watch my other video about alcohol and pain. 3- Preference to an anti-inflammatory diet that
is rich in vegetables, omega-3, fibers and avoids junk food, sugars, caffeine,
pops and trans fats. I have another video that explains the anti-inflammatory diet.
4- Reduce stress levels. Learn mind-body interventions like skills from
cognitive-behavioural therapy, meditation and mindfulness based stress reduction.
Here, watch my other video that I talk about mind-body interventions for chronic pain.
5- Practice regular physical exercises like walking, dancing,
weight training and stretching. I have many videos in my channel that I demonstrate exercises.
6- Start a bladder training routine. This involves training the bladder to hold
larger amounts of urine. Usually a person with painful bladder goes to the washroom multiple
times every hour. And it is possible to train the bladder to hold urine for longer periods.
7- If the person has chronic pelvic pain, which involves the muscles of the perineal and abdominal
areas, it is recommended to see a physical therapist specialized in chronic pelvic pain.
8- Consult with a physician specialized in bladder symptoms to assess for interventions like bladder
stretching, bladder instillation or surgery 9- Consult with a pain specialist for possible
intervention using medications. These could include prescription antidepressants
like amitriptyline or nortriptyline. These medications may help to relax the bladder
and hold urine for longer periods. Watch my other video about amitriptyline here. There
are also some interventions with injections to the bladder and nerve blocks that may help to
reduce the pain, even if temporarily. 10- Get knowledge about chronic pain,
brain retraining and pain neuroscience. There are many websites, books and resources available to
patients. If you have not heard yet, I have a book that I recommend to you. It is called the
“8 STEPS TO CONQUER CHRONIC PAIN”. And you can find it anywhere where books are sold.
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Here you can watch my other videos. Good bye.