Physical Therapy For Interstitial Cystitis
As you might know from my previous post on the most effective natural therapies for interstitial cystitis, physical therapy is up there on the list of the top 3 most effective non-invasive and natural therapies.
As I know very little on the subject I thought it might be a good idea to get the view of an expert in the field. Therefore I got in touch with the wonderful Nicole Cozean, author of the book The Interstitial Cystitis Solution Physiotherapist over at Pelvic Sanity, who was so kind to share her knowledge and experience with us!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Worms as Medicine: Helminthic Therapy for Chronic (Bladder) Disease
We mainly associate parasitic worm infections with disease, but what if there are parasites that are actually good for us?
There are many different types of helminthic worms and some can be really bad for our health. Other types, however, have been used therapeutically for several years.
Helminthic therapy is one of many therapies I have investigated in recent years and also tried on myself. Today, I’d like to give you all a little introduction on this rather interesting therapy.
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.
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.
The Allergic Bladder
Interstitial cystitis is often associated with a range of other degenerative diseases such as IBS, IBD, Fibromyalgia, Sjoegen’s, Lupus and also allergies.
‘Classic’ interstitial cystitis has some common features with allergies such as increased mast cells, histamine and inflammation.
Is something else causing IC, allergies and associated diseases or could allergies be a root cause? What if some cases of IC are simply a symptom of food intolerance? I call this the allergic bladder.