Diagnosis of Interstitial Cystitis
Health care professionals will use your medical history, a physical exam, and lab tests to diagnose IC.

A health care professional will ask if you have a history of health problems related to IC. He or she will ask questions about your symptoms and other questions to help find the cause of your bladder problems.

If you are a woman who has IC symptoms, a health care professional may also perform a pelvic exam. During the pelvic exam, the health care professional will check your pelvic floor muscles to see if any of your painful symptoms are related to spasm in your pelvic floor muscles.

For men, a health care professional may perform a digital rectal exam to check for prostate problems and to check your pelvic floor muscles.

Doctors diagnose IC based on

pain in or near the bladder, usually with urinary frequency and urgency
the absence of other diseases and conditions that could cause similar symptoms, such as urinary tract infections (UTIs), bladder cancer , endometriosis  in women, or prostatitis-infection or inflammation of the prostate-in men.