by Local comedian Ashley Corby, 35, overshares with her audience as part of her standup routine, including a 5-minute bit about “shady” rest areas she has visited due to interstitial cystitis (IC), a bladder pain syndrome affecting 3 million to 8 million people in the United States.
Corby was diagnosed with IC — a condition that mimics a chronic urinary tract infection — at age 19. It is not only debilitating but also incurable. Symptoms include urinary urgency, frequency and pressure and pain in the pelvic region.
Corby is now a patient at Vanderbilt Health’s new IC clinic and is seen by a care team that includes a nurse practitioner, psychologist, urologist and physical therapist working in tandem on a treatment plan.
“I consider it a four-pronged approach — medical management, stress management, nutrition and physical therapy,” said Lindsey McKernan, PhD, assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and co-founder of the clinic.”
“The idea that Lindsey [McKernan] has is that there is a strong mind/body connection to IC and, if we can slow down our breathing and brain waves, it can stop our flares. And so when this situation happens it is not the end of the world as it was years ago.”
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Thank you to VUMC Reporter for the article.
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