Browse Tag by interstitial cystitis
Interstitial Cystitis, Protocols

CBD Oil For Chronic (Bladder) Pain

CBD oil has gained more and more popularity with chronic illness sufferers in recent years and since it has been legalized in many US states and also in the UK, it is starting to be more readily available (I only just saw it today at Holland & Barrett in town!).

Since one of the symptoms of interstitial cystitis is pain, CBD oil is of potential use. There is much need for a safe and natural pain remedy, as the alternatives are rather risky long-term (e.g. opioids, ibuprofen).

Continue Reading
Interstitial Cystitis, Protocols

Acupuncture for Interstitial Cystitis and Pelvic Pain

Acupuncture has been used widely for chronic pain conditions for a long time and therefore lends itself as a potential therapy for interstitial cystitis and pelvic pain and I’m sure at least some of you have already tried it.

It seems to me that acupuncture is widely accepted these days by conventional practitioners, but as with any abstract therapy it remains controversial. In today’s post I’d like to take a closer look at what evidence we have for it.

Continue Reading

Interstitial Cystitis, Protocols

The Most Effective Natural Therapies For IC (According To Science)

Many IC sufferers I have spoken to are either interested in trying alternative natural therapies, or have already tried some.

There are a variety of natural therapies and remedies out there, and often it is hard to know what is effective. In my experience, this is highly individual. We do, however, have some data on what seems to help the most people.

Continue Reading

Health Articles

A 2018 Recap and Thoughts for 2019

First of all, I would like to wish all my readers out there a happy new year! I hope that you will reach your health goals in 2019. This blog is all about empowering you to be able to get to the root causes of your bladder issues and I hope that at least some of you have been helped by the information provided here.

As the start of the New Year is a time for reflecting on the past and making new resolutions, I thought I’d do a bit of both in this post.

Continue Reading

Interstitial Cystitis, Protocols

Aloe Vera for Interstitial Cystitis (and a Giveaway!)

Aloe vera is a traditional herb that has been used in ancient cultures and is used today both topically and orally for various therapeutic purposes.

Aloe vera is one of the herbal remedies used for interstitial cystitis. Today, I wanted to have a closer look at how and why it’s used for IC and, as usual, what evidence we have behind it. Plus, I have a giveaway for you (who doesn’t like free stuff?!) so make sure you read on till the end!

Continue Reading

Conditions, Interstitial Cystitis

Are Bladder Instillations Evidence-based?

I never had a bladder instillation when I suffered from ‘interstitial cystitis’ – my doctor at the time couldn’t even diagnose me, so I didn’t get to try any conventional treatment for IC. In my desperation, I very quickly turned to natural interventions… and the rest is history.

We often speak of orthodox medicine as being ‘evidence based’ and anything ‘alternative’ as being ‘quackery’. I have long come to understand that a lot of ‘alternative’ interventions are in fact very much following the newest evidence but also that ‘quackery’ (and maybe more importantly ego) can be found in all walks of medicine.

So far, I’ve mostly stayed away from writing about conventional treatments and it’s not my intention to slag anything off. But after hearing from so many sufferers I’ve spoken to that instillations have not helped them, I wanted to see if their use is actually evidence-based.

Continue Reading

Protocols

Low-Level Laser Therapy For Chronic Pain

 

Low level laser therapy is also known as light therapy or photobiomodulation. There’s different forms of light therapy, but this form mainly refers to red-light therapy of a specific wavelength.

It sounds pretty esoteric, but actually it has been used by NASA to help plants grow in space and by farmers for breeding chicks and other livestock. But it has also been used therapeutically for humans, especially in the context of recovery from physical exercise.

Continue Reading

Conditions, Interstitial Cystitis

Key Takeaways From My Experience With ‘Interstitial Cystitis’

After having suffered for two years of what I now understand was ‘Interstitial Cystitis’, years of researching and writing about bladder health and working with clients who suffer from chronic bladder issues I’ve gathered some key points to consider.

If you don’t want to read through all the information I have compiled on this blog, I think this could be a good starting point for anyone afflicted with these problems.

Continue Reading

Interstitial Cystitis

Low Dose Naltrexone for Interstitial Cystitis

Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) is one of the few allopathic medicines that seems to be rather popular in functional medicine circles.

I have heard of people taking it for interstitial cystitis and therefore wanted to investigate the why and how it could be used and whether its use makes sense for this condition.

Continue Reading