What is cystitis?
If you notice that you need to pee more often or experience pain during urination, you might be suffering from cystitis, an inflammation of your bladder.
And it’s not just you: cystitis and other types of urinary tract infections affect around 50-60% of women. In most cases, cystitis occurs when bacteria that live harmlessly in your bowels or on your skin get into the bladder through the tube that carries urine out of your body (urethra). The feeling that you need to urinate more often or having an uncomfortable or painful urination are two of the main symptoms that let you know that you may be suffering from cystitis.
Normally urination shouldn't be painful, and urine should be the colour of straw. How often and how much you urinate depends on how often, and how much you eat and drink. The European Food Safety Authority recommends that women should drink about 2.0 litres of fluid per day. Taking this into account, in mild climates it's quite normal to produce anything between 800mls and 2.5 litres of urine a day.
Causes of cystitis
It’s not always clear what the causes of cystitis are. Cystitis is usually caused by a bacterial infection, but it could also be the result of damage or irritation to your bladder (non-infectious cystitis). Women are more susceptible than men to getting cystitis because their anus is closer to their urethra and their urethra is much shorter, so bacteria might get into the bladder more easily.
Some common causes of cystitis include:
Not emptying your bladder fully when you urinate
Using a diaphragm for contraception
Wiping from back to front after going to the toilet (you should wipe front to back)
Chemicals and perfume in soaps
Friction from having sex
Risk factors for cystitis
Radiotherapy to the pelvis
Diabetes
Menopause
Urinary catheters
Kidney stones
Pregnancy
A weakened immune system
Cystitis symptoms
Still unsure about your symptoms?
By clicking this link you will leave the Canesten website and enter the Ada symptom assessment tool.
This AI-powered symptom checker can help match possible conditions with your symptoms. Simply answer a few symptom-related questions and receive a personal symptom assessment† report.
Cystitis treatment
Treatment of cystitis depends on the kind of cystitis you have. If it is caused by a bacterial infection, then you will most likely need to take antibiotics prescribed by a doctor.
If you have had cystitis before or you know your cystitis is non-bacterial and your symptoms are mild, then cystitis may often clear up without any treatment and you can relieve the symptoms with products such as CanesOasis®. CanesOasis® offers effective relief from cystitis symptoms. It reduces the acidity of your urine to help make it more comfortable for you to urinate while your body tackles the infection.
You should always remember to drink plenty of water and to pee frequently. It is advisable to avoid sex. Remember you should always wipe from front to back when going to the toilet.
Cystitis prevention
The best thing you can do to prevent cystitis is to stay hydrated. If your urine is straw-coloured, you're hydrated enough. Dark-coloured urine is a sign you need to drink more.
Remember to drink between six to eight glasses of water a day, or more if it’s hot or you’ve been working out. The drinks to avoid are: caffeinated, fizzy or alcoholic beverages. They might irritate your bladder and lead to cystitis.
Good hygiene helps to prevent bacteria from travelling up the urethra and into the bladder, which can help prevent cystitis.
If you get cystitis often, you might consider taking these measures:
Interstitial cystitis
Interstitial cystitis, also known as painful bladder syndrome or bladder pain syndrome, is a bladder condition that causes long-term pelvic pain and problems peeing. It is mostly common in women rather than men.
It's difficult to say what causes interstitial cystitis because there isn’t any noticeable bladder infection so the antibiotics can’t help.
The symptoms of interstitial cystitis are:
There is no cure for interstitial cystitis but some lifestyle changes can help relieve the symptoms. These are:
Related Articles
What is bacterial vaginosis (BV)?
Learn what bacterial vaginosis is, from BV symptoms to how to prevent BV, and how to treat it. Find out what the differences between thrush and BV are today. In this article, you can also find advice on how to treat BV and how to stop BV from recurring.
What is thrush?
Learn what thrush is and the yeast infection symptoms to help identify it. Discover what thrush treatments there are, and tips on how to help prevent recurring thrush.
Vaginal infections: what you need to know
Learn how to identify the symptoms and causes of vaginal infections such as bacterial vaginosis (BV). Discover our tips on how to improve your vaginal health here.
Thrush in pregnancy
Learn everything you need to know about having thrush during pregnancy. Find out tips on how to prevent and treat a vaginal yeast infection.
Medicines can affect the unborn baby. Always talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking any medicine in pregnancy.
Male thrush: causes and symptoms
Learn more about male thrush symptoms. Including how to reduce the risk of developing a yeast infection, tips on prevention, and yeast infection treatments.
Vagina. Vulva. Discharge.
Let’s take a look, and see all the big, dark, uneven, hairy, honest versions of normality.
By clicking this link you will leave the Canesten website and enter The Truth Undressed website.
Thrush Trivia Quiz
Thrush is quite common, but how much do you know about it? Take our quiz and find out what’s fact and what’s myth. Test your knowledge and share your results if you wish!