Diastasis Recti

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Charice20
Charice20 Posts: 6 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Is anyone trying to heal an Diastasis Recti? This is when your ab muscles split and stretch apart due to weight gain or as in my case multiple pregnancies. Looking to see if anyone else is trying to heal this with diet and exercise. My youngest is 2 and until I began working out at the beginning of January, I was unaware that such a thing as D.R. existed. Anyone who wants to share or has any suggestions please chime in! Thank you!

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  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
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    I have a split after the 10 pounder, my #4. It was very alarming. Did the isometric "pull your belly in toward spine" while pressing the sides together, I think it helped some; and time and general fitness. I do not ever do crunches laying on my back as they make my waist wider now, shortening the muscles I guess pulls it apart? Plank and tucking seems to work better. But there is a layer of muscle underneath, it's not like a hernia.

    Only quick or total fix is the tummy tuck surgery :( but I am satisfied with what I have now, youngest is 9 though and it did take at least 5 or 6 years to get to the point that I didn't feel worried about it.
  • Charice20
    Charice20 Posts: 6 Member
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    My youngest is now 2 and I too was alarmed when I found out that it was D.R. I've been doing some planking and heel slides. Trying to avoid all traditional ab workouts as it seems to make things worse as you said. I've had several people tell me to give up and get a tummy tuck. I've heard the recovery is brutal and I don't have time for that considering I'm a mom who works nearly full time! I guess I will keep chugging along with my modified ab workouts and not let it discourage me!
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Breakingmuscle.com has a series on DR: http://breakingmuscle.com/womens-fitness/12-weeks-of-workouts-to-rebuild-after-diastasis-recti
  • Charice20
    Charice20 Posts: 6 Member
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    Thank you I will check it out :)
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
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    Planks planks and pulling your stomach up and in as you do them, squeezing your ribcage inward. The mountain climber planks is similar to what I mean by tucking, from a plank or all fours pull your knee in toward your nose, and toward each shoulder in turn.

    A lot of it, I think, is conscious attention to posture, and as you are already aware, NOT doing anything that pulls them apart.
  • etphonehome86
    etphonehome86 Posts: 1 Member
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    I'm sorry to contradict but planks are one of the WORST things you can do when you have an unstable core and DR. mutu system has loads of info about this on their site and blog which is where i get most of my information from. Hope you find what you're looking for Charice, it's really not talked about enough and there is SO much misinformation out there :)
  • jellebeandesigns
    jellebeandesigns Posts: 347 Member
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    Running has helped mine a ton (almost gone). Running naturally works the core without straining it. I've had dr happen with two of my kids (8 & 9 lbs). It was completely healed between the two from running and it's in the process now.
  • ephiemarie
    ephiemarie Posts: 264 Member
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    I had a fairly wide DR that started with my first pregnancy and widened with each of the following three pregnancies. I never did any specific exercises to heal it and figured I'd just have to live with it as a battle wound of motherhood. My youngest just turned 3 years old, and my DR is now nothing more than a fingertip sized "hole" directly behind my belly button. Running and heavy lifting did the trick for me, even if it was accidental.
  • bezlooney
    bezlooney Posts: 81 Member
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    Sorry but you cant fix it. Especially if its been 2 years since birth. Tummy tuck is the only fix. And ill tell you from experience the recovery is beyond horrible and its very exspensive. I had mine 5 years ago and areas are still numb.
  • happyhelenr
    happyhelenr Posts: 7 Member
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    Have a look at the following link just in case it offers you some comfort at least ... good luck :)

    http://kingbrand.com/wound-healing.php?REF=1094PV12
  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
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    I had a 8cm DR after the birth of my last son who was 10lbs. I did a lot of perfect posture ab pulling in and up while seated, and planks. Constant attention to pulling abs in toward spine and up towards rib cage and never pushing out during contraction. Mine is healed to within 1/2cm. The exercises were given to me by my midwife/doc team and confirmed by my physio. It took a few years but the work paid off. Good luck and make sure to get a physio consult if you do not have a med team already directing you. Most do not require surgery to correct.
  • Charice20
    Charice20 Posts: 6 Member
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    etphonehome86 wrote: »
    I'm sorry to contradict but planks are one of the WORST things you can do when you have an unstable core and DR. mutu system has loads of info about this on their site and blog which is where i get most of my information from. Hope you find what you're looking for Charice, it's really not talked about enough and there is SO much misinformation out there :)

    Thank you. I do side planks and make sure to pull my abs inward when I do them. I do cardio and have seen quite a difference from doing that. I've stopped doing all traditional ab workouts and hope that with the different things I've learned I can some what heal it!
  • Charice20
    Charice20 Posts: 6 Member
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    youngmomtaz wrote: »
    I had a 8cm DR after the birth of my last son who was 10lbs. I did a lot of perfect posture ab pulling in and up while seated, and planks. Constant attention to pulling abs in toward spine and up towards rib cage and never pushing out during contraction. Mine is healed to within 1/2cm. The exercises were given to me by my midwife/doc team and confirmed by my physio. It took a few years but the work paid off. Good luck and make sure to get a physio consult if you do not have a med team already directing you. Most do not require surgery to correct.

    Thank you! I'm going to see a specialist to make sure that there isn't any other issue associated with it. I've been working on it for the past month and can already tell that the techniques I'm using are starting to work! Thanks for the encouragement. I know many people have told me that I have to have surgery but to me that's the easy way out and I refuse to believe that some hard work on my part won't heal it to some degree.

  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    edited February 2016
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    I had a small one after my second baby. My midwife taught me exercises. They are the ones Julie Tupler does, "The Tupler Technique". I have her book Maternal Fitness, but I bought that over 12 years ago. She might have newer books now. I would pull my transverse abdominal muscles in and pulse them in tighter while keeping them pulled in. I did this about 500 times, around three times a day. It definitely worked for me. When my muscles were stronger I did pilates and found that great for further strengthening my core muscles. And eventually I was able to move on to weight lifting and more complex ab exercises such as planks, jacknives, etc (once I had completely healed).

    Here you go: https://www.diastasisrehab.com/index
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    bezlooney wrote: »
    Sorry but you cant fix it. Especially if its been 2 years since birth. Tummy tuck is the only fix. And ill tell you from experience the recovery is beyond horrible and its very exspensive. I had mine 5 years ago and areas are still numb.

    well,in some cases that may be but many women have healed/fixed theirs. they can be fixed it just depends on to what degree and how bad the separation is and how bad the supporting muscles are.
  • courtneybray1
    courtneybray1 Posts: 3 Member
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    I am here to close my diastasis :smile: I just gave birth about 2.5 months ago and working hard to get my diastasis closed, I've achieved only .5 finger breadth so far though. I'm at 4 finger breadths. I'm generally a fit person but I have 3 kids close together and each pregnancy has opened my diastasis more. I hear different stories. I know women have brought their's back together, but I feel doubtful sometimes.
    The linea alba is a connective tissue, that keeps the diastasis closed, that is said to not be elastic. It's also not a muscle, so strength training won't change how far stretched your linea alba has become. So I'm thinking it may be true that diastasis recti cannot be entirely healed without surgery.
    I am considering surgery to have mine fixed so long as it is not considered cosmetic. For me it isn't. Diastasis recti can lead to hernias, which require surgery to fix already. So to me it would be preventative if that makes sense.

    I am going to give it my all to close my diastasis, but through all the years, it has never closed completely.

    Careful how you measure your diastasis. Only lift your head just enough to feel your abdominal muscles. If you do a crunch or even lift your head too much, your abdominal muscles will close tighter and give you a false measurement.
  • larowan1987
    larowan1987 Posts: 1 Member
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    I've closed my 6" gap in 6 months with Fit2b and The Tummy Team. Both have websites loaded with resources, and purchasable rehab plans that will heal your core.
  • theroyalmurphys
    theroyalmurphys Posts: 4 Member
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    I know this is kind of an old thread, but just in case someone gets this message, I'm giving it a go. I just started the Tupler Technique exercises, but I'm not sure how to enter them into my exercises. How did you all log these? Do we get any calorie credits for doing this? I know the only other exercises we're allowed to do is walking, which I can't get to every day. I want to get credit for something, LOL! Suggestions on logging?
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    larowan1987 wrote: »
    I've closed my 6" gap in 6 months with Fit2b and The Tummy Team. Both have websites loaded with resources, and purchasable rehab plans that will heal your core.

    what a way to sell a product/service. you can find videos online for free and not need to buy or pay for anything

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