Chronic cystitis: symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of this bladder inflammation

By Cristiano Antonino On Mar 28, 2023

Cystitis consists of a very annoying inflammation of the bladder mucosa and is accompanied by the continuous need to urinate, sometimes with pain when urinating

The pathology often resolves itself in a single episode, but if it is not treated in the right way it can recur and become chronic.

Chronic cystitis: what is it?

We speak of chronic (or recurrent) cystitis in the event of the appearance of three or more episodes of cystitis in the course of a year.

Cystitis is considered as a reinfection when it is caused by a bacterium different from the one that caused the previous episode or by the same bacterium, but after a negative urine culture or after a two-week interval between the two episodes.

It is instead considered as persistence in the event that, despite the therapy, the pathology continues to be present.

Chronic cystitis: symptoms

The symptoms of chronic cystitis are similar to those of cystitis, but more persistent.

Sufferers experience an urgent and frequent need to urinate as well as a feeling of weight on the bladder.

Bladder burning is constant and increases with urination.

Chronic cystitis also causes severe pain in the urethra and can make sexual intercourse painful.

Sometimes it can manifest itself with the appearance of blood in the urine. Less frequent is fever.

Chronic cystitis: the causes

Under normal conditions, the bladder has a strong resistance to infection and the urine it contains is sterile.

However, certain conditions can make the body more sensitive and less prepared to counteract the aggression of bacteria.

Organisms can reach the bladder from the urethra.

Chronic cystitis occurs more frequently in people who have a weakened immune system due to irregular diet, excessive stress, or prolonged antibiotic therapy.

Patients who have urinary tract malformations, who use catheters and have bladder stones or tumors are predisposed.

Furthermore, this pathology is also attributable to diabetes, the presence of glucose in the urine, in fact, favors bacterial proliferation.

Vaginal atrophy due to estrogen deficiency, urinary incontinence, bladder prolapse, intestinal dysbiosis are also risk factors.

Chronic cystitis: therapy

Chronic cystitis must be tackled with targeted therapy that involves taking pain-relieving drugs, to reduce muscle contraction, and antibiotic drugs to eliminate the bacterium causing the infection.

To counteract the pathology it is important that the patient follows some general rules.

First of all, it is recommended to drink at least 2 liters of water a day, to dilute the bacterial load, and to follow some hygienic-behavioural rules which allow for speeding up healing.

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