Bladder Lining Infections

Cystitis, or a bladder infection, often causes inflammation in the lining of the bladder, according to the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center College of Medicine. Bacteria forming in the bladder lining often causes a bladder infection.

Risk Factors

• Cystitis is common among women because they have a shorter urethra. Other groups that often get infections in their bladder lining include people who use catheters, men who have an enlarged prostate or prostate cancer, women who are pregnant or are postmenopausal and/or people who have a disease that affects their immune system.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of cystitis include burning feelings during urination, chills, back or side pain, a frequent need to urinate, the passing of small amounts of urine, a loss of appetite, pain in the pelvic region, abdominal pain, a fever, vomiting and urinary incontinence.

Diagnosis

• To diagnose cystitis, doctors usually use a urine analysis, where they collect a sample of patients' urine and look for protein and glucose in it, according to the Nemours Foundation. A urine culture is a laboratory test that is used to look for bacteria in patients' urine.

Treatment

• Patients usually receive antibiotics for a bladder infection, according to the Mayo Clinic. Sometimes they are given other drugs, such as phenazopyridine hydrochloride, to reduce burning sensations during urination and the frequent need to urinate.

Prevention

• People can prevent a urinary tract infection by using good hygiene practices after going to the bathroom and having sex, changing their underwear daily, drinking cranberry juice and water, reducing their alcohol and caffeine consumption, taking showers instead of baths and not using feminine hygiene products on their genital area.