Why didn't my doctor ever tell me about this?!?!

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RachelGraceReed83
RachelGraceReed83 Posts: 133 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am wondering... I have a seperation in my ab muscles (diastasis recti) from pregnancies and am afraid to do anything to make it worse since I have recently learned some new info. I just recently did some research about this and came across some info saying there are exercises that can correct it and there are also exercises that can make it worse! Yikes! I never knew before that regular crunches can make it worse. Why didn't my doctor ever tell me about this or anyone for that matter?!?! I had always assumed the only way to correct it was by srgery, but if there are exercises I can do to repair this problem I'm all in!

I am wondering if any moms on here have had diastasis recti and have corrected it with certain exercises without any kind of surgery?!?! Does anyone have before and after pics of this problem being corrected?? Please share!! Thanks!
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  • dcazll
    dcazll Posts: 65 Member
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    Oh my, I'm in the same boat, I have been doing crunches trying to tighten my stomach, but also thought the only way to fully correct this was by surgery. I 'm really interested to see f you get an answer to this.
  • RachelGraceReed83
    RachelGraceReed83 Posts: 133 Member
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    Anyone?
  • AnarchoGen
    AnarchoGen Posts: 400 Member
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    Ask your doctor for a referral to see a physical therapist that specializes in post pregnancy related rehabilitation. Like a pelvic floor physical therapist or something.

    ETA: I had it for a brief time after both pregnancies, but it seem to go away after awhile. Sorry I couldn't give you much help there. I did however, end up with a cystocele w/out uterine prolapse, right before my daughter turned 5.
  • petreebird
    petreebird Posts: 344 Member
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    I read about this too. I can't tell if I have it or not!! When I barely tighten my abs, there is a separation, but when I tighten them just a bit more, it's solid. So, I'll have to wait until I go to my OBGYN for my yearly check up.
    Oh man, to think I'm making it worse...it kills me!
  • Tracey0013
    Tracey0013 Posts: 154 Member
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    I found this online that might help :)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czcMnabbo4c&feature=related
  • RachelGraceReed83
    RachelGraceReed83 Posts: 133 Member
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    I found this online that might help :)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czcMnabbo4c&feature=related

    Thanks! I did come across this video.

    I really would like to see before and after pics if anyone has any that had diastasis reci and corrected it with only exercises! I just want to know if it is possible to correct without surgery!
  • RachelGraceReed83
    RachelGraceReed83 Posts: 133 Member
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    I read about this too. I can't tell if I have it or not!! When I barely tighten my abs, there is a separation, but when I tighten them just a bit more, it's solid. So, I'll have to wait until I go to my OBGYN for my yearly check up.
    Oh man, to think I'm making it worse...it kills me!

    There are some videos on youtube that tell you how to figure out if you have a seperation or not. I was told by my OBGYN that I had this and she said it could come back together on its own or it could always be that way.. that was almost four years ago and I still have a 2 almost 3 finger seperation. :(

    I may have waited to late to try and correct this with exercises alone...I have no idea
  • RachelGraceReed83
    RachelGraceReed83 Posts: 133 Member
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    Ask your doctor for a referral to see a physical therapist that specializes in post pregnancy related rehabilitation. Like a pelvic floor physical therapist or something.

    ETA: I had it for a brief time after both pregnancies, but it seem to go away after awhile. Sorry I couldn't give you much help there. I did however, end up with a cystocele w/out uterine prolapse, right before my daughter turned 5.

    I wish I could afford too...
  • lilojoke
    lilojoke Posts: 427 Member
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    I knew I had this two years ago when I decided to get my excess skin removed. I had my abdomen pulled together and tightened... There is still a slight gap but its much better.
  • eksb
    eksb Posts: 93
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    I had it after my babies and worked on my transverse core muscles, not crunches which target the recti abdominus muscles (the ones that are separated). The transverse muscles are the ones that hold your stomach in like a girdle. If you are sitting up and pull your belly button in towards your spine and hold, that will strengthen those muscles. Depending on how bad the separation is, it can be tightened with exercise. Lay off the crunches!
  • kykykenna
    kykykenna Posts: 656 Member
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    I had the same thing!!!!! My friend told me you can actually have surgery "sew them together"..........I thought about it, but hubby isnt going for it....lol........WEIRD how that happens. I had no clue, either. And I was super shocked when I saw my belly look like a peak of a roof!! Agree. They should tell you that stuff!!!LOL
  • RachelGraceReed83
    RachelGraceReed83 Posts: 133 Member
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    I had it after my babies and worked on my transverse core muscles, not crunches which target the recti abdominus muscles (the ones that are separated). The transverse muscles are the ones that hold your stomach in like a girdle. If you are sitting up and pull your belly button in towards your spine and hold, that will strengthen those muscles. Depending on how bad the separation is, it can be tightened with exercise. Lay off the crunches!

    Did the exercises correct yours? I am definitely not doing crunches right now. I was doing push-ups but I read that you shouldn't do any exercises that cause the abdomen to bulge out because it will make it worse. So needless to say I have also quit doing push-ups for the time being.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
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    One of my friends had it. She went the surgery option. She said it was fairly painful healing from it, but her stomach looks great.

    A lot of places will let you finance it too btw.
  • Lolli1986
    Lolli1986 Posts: 500 Member
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    "In adults, diastasis recti can in some cases be corrected and/or mitigated by physiotherapy. A study conducted at Columbia University Program in Physical Therapy established that the women utilizing the Tupler Technique exercises had a smaller diastasis than the control group who did not do these exercises.[4]" Journal of Women's Health Physical Therapy Volume 29, No. 1, Spring, 2005

    google Tupler technique maybe... don't know if that is new info to you.


    ..... this is news to me. I have not had any babies yet and all you MFP ladies are scaring me, lol!
  • RachelGraceReed83
    RachelGraceReed83 Posts: 133 Member
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    I had the same thing!!!!! My friend told me you can actually have surgery "sew them together"..........I thought about it, but hubby isnt going for it....lol........WEIRD how that happens. I had no clue, either. And I was super shocked when I saw my belly look like a peak of a roof!! Agree. They should tell you that stuff!!!LOL

    I sooo agree!!! They should tell you about this stuff. I never heard about this from anyone before pregnancies. And not now either. Why doesn't anyone talk about this??? I just always assumed that I would need surgery to correct it.
  • RachelGraceReed83
    RachelGraceReed83 Posts: 133 Member
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    "In adults, diastasis recti can in some cases be corrected and/or mitigated by physiotherapy. A study conducted at Columbia University Program in Physical Therapy established that the women utilizing the Tupler Technique exercises had a smaller diastasis than the control group who did not do these exercises.[4]" Journal of Women's Health Physical Therapy Volume 29, No. 1, Spring, 2005

    google Tupler technique maybe... don't know if that is new info to you.


    ..... this is news to me. I have not had any babies yet and all you MFP ladies are scaring me, lol!

    I think I read somewhere that only about 1/3 of pregnant women get this...not sure if this info is correct! I also read that for some people it closes back up on its own within a fews weeks after pregnancy. Guess I'm one of the unlucky ones...
  • RachelGraceReed83
    RachelGraceReed83 Posts: 133 Member
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    One of my friends had it. She went the surgery option. She said it was fairly painful healing from it, but her stomach looks great.

    A lot of places will let you finance it too btw.

    I am so scared to have surgery!! Yikes! I have also heard that recovery is painful.
  • LesliePierceRN
    LesliePierceRN Posts: 860 Member
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    I have it, it's congenital in my case (born with it) and therefore nothing to be done about it. I have never been limited in my activity due to this, and my surgeon told me (when we found it by accident) that if you're born that way, the surgery will not take, they can sew it together, but it'll re-separate. Since it wasn't/isn't bothering me, I saw no reason to do anything about. And I really put my core to the test.. I used to be a champion powerlifter, and it never factored in (as in, I never got injured, it never bothered me even though I was squatting well over 300 pounds or deadlifting over 300 pounds).
  • Jennyisbusy
    Jennyisbusy Posts: 1,294 Member
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    bump
  • eksb
    eksb Posts: 93
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    Plank poses and twists would be good. Look up exercises for the transverse abdominals and skip anything that has you curling up in crunch/sit-up form (they actually worsen the split). If yours is severe, physical therapy might be called for. It takes time and is slow but can be done. I think surgery would only really be needed in a worse case scenario. If you do pilates or yoga, maybe talk with the instructor about your problem and they should be able to help. My post-natal yoga teacher was the one who caught mine and showed me what to do to correct it. I really just sat in class sucking my stomach in while the others were doing crunches and in a few weeks time, I was down there crunching with them, too.

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