Overview
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if aerobic exercise training and connective tissue massage, in addition to patient education, can help treat women with bladder pain syndrome. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Does aerobic exercise training and connective tissue massage reduce bladder-related pain severity?
Does this intervention improve urinary symptoms, pain sensitivity, central sensitization-related symptoms, psychological symptoms, and quality of life?
Researchers will compare patient education plus aerobic exercise training and connective tissue massage with patient education alone to see if the combined physiotherapy program is more effective.
Participants will:
Receive patient education about bladder pain syndrome
Be randomly assigned to one of two groups
Receive either patient education alone or patient education together with aerobic exercise training and connective tissue massage for 8 weeks
Complete assessments at the beginning of the study and after 8 weeks
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- Female individuals aged 18 years or older
- Diagnosis of bladder pain syndrome
- Bladder-related pain, discomfort, and/or burning symptoms lasting for at least 6 months
- Bladder-related symptom severity, including pain, discomfort, and/or burning, of at least 3 cm on the Visual Analog Scale during the last week
- Receiving stable medical treatment
- Being medically suitable for moderate-intensity aerobic exercise according to the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire
- Volunteering to participate in the study and signing the informed consent form
- For individuals aged 65 years or older, a Mini-Mental State Examination score of 24 or higher
Exclusion Criteria:
- Presence of acute urinary tract or urogynecological infection
- Pregnancy and/or breastfeeding
- Diagnosis of pelvic, urological, and/or gynecological malignancy or history of pelvic radiotherapy
- Pelvic or abdominal surgery within the last 6 months
- Presence of congenital urinary system anomalies
- History of neurological disease or diagnosis of neurogenic bladder
- Open wound or active skin infection in the area where manual therapy will be applied
