What Is Interstitial Cystitis/bladder Pain Syndrome
Interstitial cystitis /bladder pain syndrome is a chronic bladder health issue. It is a feeling of pain and pressure in the bladder area. Along with this pain are lower urinary tract symptoms which have lasted for more than 6 weeks, without having an infection or other clear causes.
Symptoms range from mild to severe. For some patients the symptoms may come and go, and for others they don’t go away. IC/BPS is not an infection, but it may feel like a bladder infection. Women with IC/BPS may feel pain when having sex. The more severe cases of IC/BPS can affect your life and your loved ones. Some people with IC/BPS have other health issues such as irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and other pain syndromes.
The bladder and kidneys are part of the urinary system, the organs in our bodies that make, store, and pass urine. You have 2 kidneys that make urine. Then urine is stored in the bladder. The muscles in the lower part of your abdomen hold your bladder in place.
How the Urinary System Works
Complementary And Alternative Therapies
Acupuncture. Some research has suggested that bladder-specific acupuncture may significantly reduce bladder muscle contractions and the urge to use the bathroom.
Biofeedback. Biofeedback is a method that teaches the mind how to control normally automated body functions. Bladder training is a type of biofeedback. Some doctors believe biofeedback and behavioral changes work better than medicines for treating urge incontinence. A combination of biofeedback and medications may work best.
Pain Related To Urinary Tract Infections
Although UTIs are not exclusively caused by catheter usage, a fair amount of catheter users find themselves having catheter-associated UTIs.
Here are some painful symptoms of CAUTI
- Burning urination
- Pelvic pain
- Pain in upper back and side
Other symptoms of UTIs include cloudy, dark, foul-smelling urine, frequent and strong urge to urinate despite low urine volume, fever, chills, and nausea.
If you experience fever, chills, nausea, and pain in the upper back and your sides, these are signs of a kidney infection and you should go to the emergency room.
CAUTIs are caused commonly caused by bacterial contamination of the catheter. Although the catheter is sterile when it comes out of the packet, it can be contaminated by your hands, bacteria around your urethral opening, your clothes, and surrounding objects. Therefore, always wash your hands with soap and water and wipe your urethral opening with antiseptic wipes before inserting the catheter.
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Nervous System Disorders That Lead To Bladder Spasms
The feeling you get when you need to empty your bladder is normally an involuntary response. The brain signals the bladder muscle when it is time to tighten and release urine. However, certain nervous system disorders cause damage to the nerves that send signals between the brain and the bladder. When this happens, the bladder does not work properly. “Neurogenic bladder” is the general term for bladder problems due to nerve damage.
Nervous system disorders and injury that can cause bladder spasms include:
- Other lower abdominal surgery
What Are Bladder Spasms
Bladder spasms are a result of uncontrollable bladder contractions and tightening. If these contractions continue, you might start feeling an urge to urinate. As a result, most people use the term bladder spasms to describe conditions involving an overactive bladder. An overactive bladder is also referred to as urge incontinence. Because of the uncontrollable bladder, you will continuously feel an urgent need to urinate, accompanied by involuntary urine leakage. Its crucial to understand that bladder spasms are only symptoms. Other things usually cause an underlying issue.
In some instances, bladder spasms can also be caused by an infection. They are often seen when one has a UTI. Apart from the urgency to urinate, you might also feel burning and pain. If the UTI is treated properly, the bladder spasms will go away. Read on to find out more about what are bladder spasms and how to stop bladder spasms.
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What Does A Bladder Spasm Feel Like
One of the most common bladder spasm symptoms is feeling an urgent need to urinate. As a result, the bladder spasms might cause urine leakage, otherwise known as urinary incontinence. If a urinary tract infection is causing bladder spasms, you might also notice the following bladder spasm symptoms:
- A burning sensation during urination
- Failure to fully empty the bladder
- Urine that has a cloudy, red, or pink appearance
- Strong smelling urine
- Pain in the pelvic area
- uncontrollable bladder contractions
On the other hand, if your bladder spasms are a result of an overactive bladder, you can also experience the following bladder spasm symptoms:
- Leakage of urine before you get to the toilet
- Frequent passing of urine, sometimes up to eight times per day
- Waking up once or twice during the night to urinate
Bladder Spasms And Foley Catheter Usage Understanding And Prevention
A foley catheter is very commonly used medical device used to treat all manners of incontinence. Unfortunately, for some users, bladder spasms from the use of a foley catheter may also be quite common. By its very nature, an indwelling catheter is invasive and has the potential to trigger a wide range of side effects, but keeping bladders spasms in check is still possible.
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Bladder Spasms In Men Are Usually A Symptom Of Prostate Problems
Bladder spasms and an overactive bladder in men are usually symptoms of prostate problems which can easily result in bladder incontinence.
Did you know that bladder spasms are one of the very uncomfortable prostate symptoms or problems found in many prostate diseases and conditions?
What happens is that your prostate swells as a result of infection called Prostatitis, of an enlarged prostate called BPH or due to the growth of cancer cells called Prostate Cancer.
When your prostate swells, it squeezes the neck of your pee tube called the urethra which passes through the prostate from the bladder .
When this happens, your peeing suffers. Your bladder signals that it wants to empty, but the swelling makes the tube smaller and less urine is able to exit.
The result becomes an unhappy bladder with bladder problems, bladder pressure and a very full, uncomfortable feeling.
Once you go, only a bit will come out, or you end up with a small stream with little exit force. Your bladder capacity is still stressed as the kidneys continue to produce urine that can only exit the body with extreme difficulty.
More bladder spasms can happen. Dribbling can ensue causing bladder incontinence where you may need to wear diapers for a while or live on the toilet!
The docs call these bladder problems and conditions ‘bladder trabeculation’ or an ‘overactive bladder’.
Frequency of peeing is often a symptom of bladder spasms as the prostate makes urination more difficult.
Latex Vs Silastic Catheters
Silastic catheters have been recommended for short-term catheterization after surgery. Compared with latex catheters, silastic catheters have a decreased incidence of urethritis and, possibly, urethral stricture.18 However, use in animal models for longer than six weeks showed no difference in inflammatory response between latex and silastic catheters.18 Because of its lower cost and similar long-term outcomes, latex is the catheter of choice for long-term catheterization. The cost differential becomes less significant in patients who do not require frequent catheter changes.6 Silastic catheters should be used in latex-allergic patients.
Catheters impregnated with various substances have not proved to be beneficial in patients with long-term catheterization. Silver-impregnated catheters, antibiotic-coated catheters and electrified catheters may diminish bacteriuria for a few days but are costly and have no role in long-term catheterization.4,1921 In one study, silver-impregnated catheters were associated with more frequent bacteriuria and an increased risk of staphylococcal bacteriuria.21
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Pain Infection From Catheter Use
For the new study, Saint and his colleagues from U-M, the Ann Arbor VA and two Texas hospitals analyzed data from 2,076 patients who had recently had a catheter placed for short-term use. Most of them received the catheter because they were having surgery.
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The team went back to each patient twice two weeks and one month after their catheter placement, respectively and asked about their catheter-related experiences.
Because two of the hospitals in the study are Veterans Affairs hospitals, nearly three-quarters of the patients were male. The catheter was removed within three days of insertion for 76 percent of the patients.
In all, 57 percent of the patients said theyd experienced at least one complication.
Key findings include:
Among those who had already had their catheter removed, about 20 percent said they had experienced urine leakage or difficulty starting or stopping urination. Nearly 5 percent said it had led to sexual problems.
Suprapubic Catheter Complications: Tips And Tricks
Urinary catheters are commonly utilized devices in the emergency department . In addition, complications from these devices are also commonly seen and treated in the ED. This is not a guide on how to place a suprapubic catheter in a patient presenting to the ED. Rather, this is a review of the suprapubic catheter itself and how to manage mechanical problems and its uncommon, but potentially serious, complications.
Four Types of Urinary Catheterization
I rarely ever see suprapubic catheters. What are the reasons a patient would have one?
Suprapubic catheters are beneficial because they prevent urethral trauma and stricture formation seen with long term indwelling catheters. They allow patients to attempt normal voiding without the need for re-catheterization of the urethra and they also interfere less with sexual activity.
Take Home Point
Take Home Points
Mechanical Complications of Suprapubic Catheters
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Staying On Top Of Medications To Prevent Bladder Spasms
Somehow, despite the pain, I managed to call the nurse hotline at my urologist’s office. Calmly, she explained that the pressure and pain I was feeling was, indeed, a bladder spasm. She told me to take the painkiller they had prescribed and start regularly taking the muscle relaxer. Man, I thought. If I had known a bladder spasm felt like that, I would have taken the medication to begin with!
For the next couple weeks, until I got the all-clear to have my catheter removed, I took my muscle-relaxant religiously. And when one or two smaller muscle spasms occurred, I took the pain meds quickly, before they blossomed into something more painful. And the rest of my recovery went smoothly, for the most part.
Who Is Most Likely To Develop Bladder Spasms
Anyone at any age can have bladder spasms. In children, bladder spasms are the leading cause of daytime incontinence.
However, you are more likely to have bladder spasms with urine leakage if you:
- Are elderly
- Have recently had lower abdominal or pelvic surgery
- Have bladder muscle damage caused by disease or injury
- Have a neurologic disease such as stroke or spinal cord injury
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How Bladder Spasms Are Treated
How your bladder spasms will be treated is entirely dependent on whats causing them and, more often than not, it will be a combination of multiple treatments. But lets look at some of the options out there.
Change in dietIf your spasms are caused by certain foods and drinks, your GP might suggest that you make small changes to your diet. A food diary can be super helpful for this kind of thing as it will help you keep track of which foods and drinks worsen your symptoms. That way youll know exactly what to cut out!
Timing your toilet tripsThis type of therapy usually involves you going to the toilet every 1.5 to 2 hours and is often very successful in treating bladder spasms in children. As your situation is improving and youre having fewer accidents you can keep longer times between toilet visits.
Pelvic floor exercises These types of exercises help strengthen your pelvic floor which helps your body to hold on to urine. To do Kegels, simply tighten the muscles in your pelvic floor. How? Just squeeze them the same way as you would if you were trying to stop peeing or trying to not pass gas. Make sure youre exercising the correct muscles, though, as exercising the wrong ones can put even more pressure on your bladder and might lead to accidents. If youre not sure which muscles you should exercises, speak to your GP they might be able to refer you to specialist.
When To Call A Healthcare Professional
If your Healthcare Professional has given you instructions about when to notify him or her should you experience catheter problems, be sure to follow those instructions.
- No urine or very little urine is flowing into the collection bag and you feel your bladder is full.
- You have new pain in your abdomen, pelvis, legs, or back.
- Your urine has changed colour, is very cloudy, looks bloody, or has large blood clots in it.
- The insertion site becomes very irritated, swollen, red, or tender.
- Your urine has a foul odour .
- Urine is leaking from the insertion site.
- You have a fever.
- You develop nausea, vomiting or feel unwell.
Do not wait until late in the afternoon to call a Healthcare Professional.
If you have a catheter problem contact someone immediately.
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How Do I Fix Problems With My Urinary Catheter
If you see that your catheter is not draining urine, check the following:
- Is the urine tubing twisted or bent? If it is, straighten out the tubing.
- Are you lying on the catheter tubing? If you are, move the tubing.
- Is the urine collection bag below the level of your bladder ? If it isnt, lower the level of the urine collection bag until it is below the level of your bladder . If your urine is still not draining, call your doctor or health care team right away.
If your catheter is leaking:
- Place a towel or waterproof pad under you to protect your furniture.
- You may wrap gauze around the catheter where it enters your body if you have drainage or leakage. Make sure to change the gauze when it feels wet. It is ok if your catheter leaks a little. If you begin to leak a large amount of urine, call your doctor or health care team. If your catheter comes out, call your doctor or health care team right away.
Plan For Fixing Problems With Your Urinary Catheter
- What can you do if no urine is draining into your urine collection bag?
- What can you do if your catheter is leaking?
- If you have a problem with your catheter, when should you call your doctor or health care team?
What Causes Bladder Spasms If I Have A Suprapubic Catheter
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Jennifer Describes What Happened When She Had Sacral Nerve Stimulation
Can you describe what happened? How is it done and everything? So would you turn it up when you wanted to empty your bladder? So all thats inside of you then? What drugs did he give you?
Do you get any side effects from that drug? And do you take that at other times as well? Do you sometimes get spasms at other times then? Has anybody else, any other health professionals been involved in your care apart from the GP, the district nurse and the consultant? That was a year after youd had the catheter?
Tips To Any Newcomers
Lesson learned: bladder spasms hurt. Like, a lot. And although they are common, they are also apparently pretty preventable. I’m part of a few bladder cancer support groups, and when newcomers ask for tips and advice, my answer is always the same: take your meds and prevent bladder spasms before they start.
Would you like to talk to others in the bladder cancer community about tips for newcomers? Reach out in our forums.
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How Do I Use A Leg Bag
If you are up and about, you’ll want to use a leg bag to drain your urine. The bag is attached to the end of your catheter and is strapped to youre your lower leg. Use the leg bag straps to hold the catheter tubing to your thigh and the bag to your lower leg. This will prevent the catheter from tugging and possibly being pulled out.
You should empty your leg bag every three to four hours or sooner if it is half full. To empty the leg bag:
- Wash your hands with soap and water.
- Stand or sit near a toilet or sink.
- Loosen the strap closest to your knee so that the bag hangs over the toilet.
- Remove the cap and open the clamp. Do not touch the drain port with your fingers or let the drain port touch the toilet seat.
- Drain the urine out of the leg bag.
- After the urine has drained out, wipe the drain port and cap with a cotton ball or gauze soaked with rubbing alcohol.
- Close the clamp and put the cap back on.
- Wash your hands with soap and water
To changing the leg bag to the night drainage bag:
- Wash your hands with soap and water
- Pinch the catheter tubing closed with your fingers.
- Remove the leg bag.
- Clean the tip of the night bag with a cotton ball or gauze soaked with rubbing alcohol. Connect the night bag to your catheter.
- Clean the leg bag following the directions in the section, How do I clean my urine collection bags?
- Wash your hands with soap and water.
Plan For Cleaning Your Urinary Catheter