Doctors use a combination of tests, including urinalysis, cystoscopy, urine culture, and bladder wall biopsy to diagnose interstitial cystitis. For males, they may also examine prostate secretions.

Elise Kozal spent the better part of her college years with a burning bladder and urethra—a sensation that would send her to the bathroom constantly only to feel, frustratingly, as if she could never ...