my niece may have IC?

[southerngirl]

Hi. I don't know all the details, but my mom mentioned the other day that my sister-in-law (my brother's wife) thinks that their 7 year old girl (my niece) might have IC. She has a lot of pain "down there" (been going on for years). I have had frequency all my life so I don't know what normal bathroom habits are, but how frequent is frequent for a child that age? Also, what other signs should they look for that a child might have? And can a doctor do a cystoscopy with hydrodistention on someone that young and should they even consider doing that? They live in a small town that doesn't really have many specialty doctors (maybe no uros) and they would have to travel about 2 hours to get to a doc. Any suggestions on what they should do for her as well as responses to my previous questions.
Thanks.

[ICNDonna]

They really should be working with a doctor to get a diagnosis and to rule out such things as infection.

Donna

[Katrina]

:grouphug: :kiss::pray:

[Sarojini]

Yes, it's possible for children to get IC, and it is possible for a specialist to do a cysto/hydro on a child that young. Donna's right; infection should be ruled out first, and if that is not the issue, then a specialist should be consulted.

As for normal bathroom habits, usually for adults, 7-8 times a day or less is considered normal. I would assume that that is a good starting place, but children may go slightly more often as their bladders are smaller.

[a11y]

I, myself, am 15 and have been dealing with IC for most of my life. This will work to her advantage being dx. early. It's a step towards freedom from pain.

[mom_in_ma]

By all means, get her to a pediatric urologist.

My six year old is being treated by a pediatric urologist at Boston Children's hospital. He doesn't have IC, but he does have problems with bladder spasms. He's had them since he was little--poor guy. He's currently being treated with oxybutnin and detrol. They are able to do cystos (and I'm sure hydros) on children, but they sedate them with general anesthesia. Ethan had one about a year ago and had no problems with it.

[southerngirl]

My sister-in-law decided to keep track of how often my niece goes to the bathroom and if she complains of any pain with it. She just started the other day and she didn't remember to start first thing in the morning, but she started at noon and went until about 9 at night. She went at least once an hour sometimes only 30 minutes in between. And the little girl did complain of burning a few times. Is that frequent for a 7 year old girl?