Diastasis Recti

Ok I nees the truth about ab separation. Now I do not have rippled stetch mark balloon belly if u were to goole "diastasis".... I am talking to any woman who had multiple children... Lost all their fat, have a flat belly but when you start to do a crunch you can literally feel a gap between your abs. I did all the rehab Tupler, Helene... U name it... At some point the abs come closer but not together. However, it is irrelevant apparently because I see moms of FOUR on this websits ripped! Yes... Abs AND diastasis and no one cares about the gap cuz they look so toned and so good regardless. So how do you work your abs out.... With a diastasis... Without making it worst while not caring really if it geta better????

The truth is that having your abs show is down to low levels of body fat. If you have a diastasis, you are at risk of a potential umbilical hernia. If you have done all the rehabs and you still have a problematic diastasis (ie greater than 2 fingers) then perhaps surgery is warranted. But again, it's about body fat levels.

I personally don't understand why having ripped abs is more important than closing the separation that could lead to a hernia but to each their own.

[QUOTE=jamaica12305;1021046223]Ok I nees the truth about ab separation. Now I do not have rippled stetch mark balloon belly if u were to goole "diastasis".... I am talking to any woman who had multiple children... Lost all their fat, have a flat belly but when you start to do a crunch you can literally feel a gap between your abs. I did all the rehab Tupler, Helene... U name it... At some point the abs come closer but not together. However, it is irrelevant apparently because I see moms of FOUR on this websits ripped! Yes... Abs AND diastasis and no one cares about the gap cuz they look so toned and so good regardless. So how do you work your abs out.... With a diastasis... Without making it worst while not caring really if it geta better????[/QUOTE]

My son is 2 and I had a pretty serious separation after his birth. Now, there is no gap. AT ALL. How long has it been since you had your last baby?

I have DR and a hernia that is going to need surgical repair eventually. Doing certain moves can cause my intestines ton pop out. But it has nothing to do with me being able to show abs.

See this is what I wanted to hear... reality. Reality is that some people close the gap and some people don't but it should not have any bearing on whether or not you have tight abs. All these rehab people try to tell you not to do certain exercises "because you have DR"... its BS as you can see from this womans incredible abs. I have DR and an umbilical hernia already that will require surgery eventually (had since pregnancy)... To answer someones question, I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old. The DR was slight with 5 year old and got worst with 2 year old. I have done nothing but transverse ab exercises for the past year... getting no where. but I think the answer is how to get rid of this layer of belly fat without becoming anorexic.

[QUOTE=discdoggie;1021159493]I have DR and a hernia that is going to need surgical repair eventually. Doing certain moves can cause my intestines ton pop out. But it has nothing to do with me being able to show abs.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Fawnl;1021145763]My son is 2 and I had a pretty serious separation after his birth. Now, there is no gap. AT ALL. How long has it been since you had your last baby?[/QUOTE]

I would love to know exactly what you did to close your gap! If I could, I would love to completely close it for peace of mind.

[QUOTE=jamaica12305;1021249533]I would love to know exactly what you did to close your gap! If I could, I would love to completely close it for peace of mind.[/QUOTE]

Honestly I did nothing. Literally. I just let it heal itself after my last baby. I did use a belly bandit for 6 weeks after having my kids, and that may have helped to pull things back in. I wore it for comfort, I didn't like how I felt like my guts were trying to fall out once there was all that room left in my abdomen. But perhaps it helped with that initial healing time.

[QUOTE=discdoggie;1021159493]I have DR and a hernia that is going to need surgical repair eventually. Doing certain moves can cause my intestines ton pop out. But it has nothing to do with me being able to show abs.[/QUOTE]

same here with the intestines popping in and out. The hernia I have now is really large which is actually a good thing, there was a small one before, just big enough for intestines to get stuck in, they got incarcerated. I'll be going in for my 2nd round of hernia surgeries soon and getting the DR repaired at the same time. Some people's gaps close on their own or with some work, other people's connective tissue stretched so badly there is no way you can repair without surgery. There are certain moves I can't do at all, and some that I need to wear a belt or binder for to keep things from popping through.

Also, agree that it has nothing to do with how abs show, especially if you don't have the loose skin rippled hanging over it.

As sonti said, 2 finger widths is considered 'healed' and the abs may never get closer than that after childbirth, so they might never heal to the point where there is no gap at all.

[QUOTE=ilovethe80s;1021283723]same here with the intestines popping in and out. The hernia I have now is really large which is actually a good thing, there was a small one before, just big enough for intestines to get stuck in, they got incarcerated. I'll be going in for my 2nd round of hernia surgeries soon and getting the DR repaired at the same time. Some people's gaps close on their own or with some work, other people's connective tissue stretched so badly there is no way you can repair without surgery. There are certain moves I can't do at all, and some that I need to wear a belt or binder for to keep things from popping through.

Also, agree that it has nothing to do with how abs show, especially if you don't have the loose skin rippled hanging over it.

As sonti said, 2 finger widths is considered 'healed' and the abs may never get closer than that after childbirth, so they might never heal to the point where there is no gap at all.[/QUOTE]

Yes my gap is 2 fingers and i just gotta strengthen the abs.and get this last layer of.fat off. And eventually.my hernia surgery. My.hernia is tiny and just above my naval. Anyway. You friggin rock. Go girl... Luvd ur profile

I had severe DR and was not able to get the gap to close. In my case, I did exercise and tried everything and nothing worked. I also had the "stretchmark deflated balloon" stomach, so I couldn't even see abs if I had them because the skin was so the lower body fat the more the skin of my abdomen hung in ways that just, well, sucked. Surgery was the only way to fix it. At one point I had a small hernia too but it was not

Immediately after surgery, I was able to see ab definition. (Well, not immediately but not too long after.) I was able to see more than I had before I even had the DR (or kids) but I did have a lower body fat, so I'm sure that's why. I never did tons of ab work since then because of fear of damaging something or getting a hernia, but then I went and had another baby. 12 months after my third child, my abs show and I have a tiny bit of DR but not much. Thank goodness! With that baby, I did wear an abdonimal binder though pretty much immediately after birth.

So, I say all that to say I think it really probably depends on the individual but if you have something over your tummy be it fat or loads of super loose wrinkly skin, it'll make it harder to see what's underneath.

I have this and the dreaded hang with stretch marks 5 finger seperation so pretty drastic looks like im fully preggo :( ( muscle repair and tt in 9 mths YAY ) I am stuck at what to do 1- excercise lots like i want to and hope nothing pops! and get my muscles as ripped as i can so i get the most out of surgery and look great after or 2- not exercise my abdominals which pretty much excludes everything still be over weight and still be unfit and get a lesser result with surgery but not risk my health in the mean time. hmmmmm thought about it. Id rather the risk! i am just carefull i do bodyrock but i just modify and wrap tummy when i do it whether it helps or not is another thing. good luck with your journey It truely sucks when your body isnt 100%.

This thread makes me completely terrified to have children. The things they never tell you....lol.

[QUOTE=Fawnl;1021268113]Honestly I did nothing. Literally. I just let it heal itself after my last baby. I did use a belly bandit for 6 weeks after having my kids, and that may have helped to pull things back in. I wore it for comfort, I didn't like how I felt like my guts were trying to fall out once there was all that room left in my abdomen. But perhaps it helped with that initial healing time.[/QUOTE]

This, I hear belly binding is so important. It was stressed in many other cultures. I plan on doing it. And yes I have nothing to contibute to this thread.

ANd woman scared to have kids just make sure you belly bind afterward! It should help. I wish proper maternal after care was stressed more in western society. The whole birthing business is FUBAR anyways.

[QUOTE=TheAmazon;1022400763]This, I hear belly binding is so important. It was stressed in many other cultures. I plan on doing it. And yes I have nothing to contibute to this thread.

ANd woman scared to have kids just make sure you belly bind afterward! It should help. [b]I wish proper maternal after care was stressed more in western society.[/b] The whole birthing business is FUBAR anyways.[/QUOTE]

Better maternal care in general, not just post-partum. I don't know a lot as I have no children (yet), but have heard enough horror stories to think that the whole system could use some major help!

[QUOTE=SookiDee27;1022152223]I have this and the dreaded hang with stretch marks 5 finger seperation so pretty drastic looks like im fully preggo :( ( muscle repair and tt in 9 mths YAY ) I am stuck at what to do 1- excercise lots like i want to and hope nothing pops! and get my muscles as ripped as i can so i get the most out of surgery and look great after or 2- not exercise my abdominals which pretty much excludes everything still be over weight and still be unfit and get a lesser result with surgery but not risk my health in the mean time. hmmmmm thought about it. Id rather the risk! i am just carefull i do bodyrock but i just modify and wrap tummy when i do it whether it helps or not is another thing. good luck with your journey It truely sucks when your body isnt 100%.[/QUOTE]

I would talk to a doctor. I was never told not to do direct ab work when I had severe DR. In fact, I was told I should do ab work unless I had pain or the signs of a hernia. It was only suggested after I had surgery not to do direct ab work for the first year or so. I waited much longer but now do ab work. There are lots of exercises that you can do to strengthen your core that aren't like crunches.

As for being overweight, that's primarily a function of your diet. If you want to loose weight, you can through diet. Please don't let having DR stop you from reaching your health and fitness goals. Please don't just rely on words on a message board. Talk to your doctor who can see and evaluate you. I had DR for six years and saw several doctors and there was never any concern about me exercising.

HTH

Possibly helpful: [url]http://mutusystem.com/diastasis-recti-exercises-what-works.html[/url]

explains some excercises to avoid an which ones help close the gap. According to this no crunches and lots of engagement of the Transverse Abs. I also searched "recti" to find this again and there are a bunch of threads on it as well.

Something I've been thinking about that I'm hoping some of the experienced lifting moms can shed light on: Is it possible to do much "ab work" through pregnancy, at least up to a certain point, and do you think that doing this would have any beneficial effect on preventing DR or hernias from happening, or make it easier to heal them postpartum? Or is it all just a matter of genetics and the elasticity of your abdominal tissue?

[url]http://www.lindsaybrin.com/2012/03/diastasis-recti-core-workout.html[/url]

The above lady has had three kids and her post abs look way better than mine...

[QUOTE=Madi-J;1023666783]Something I've been thinking about that I'm hoping some of the experienced lifting moms can shed light on: Is it possible to do much "ab work" through pregnancy, at least up to a certain point, and do you think that doing this would have any beneficial effect on preventing DR or hernias from happening, or make it easier to heal them postpartum? Or is it all just a matter of genetics and the elasticity of your abdominal tissue?[/QUOTE]

You can do ab work during pregnancy. It's recommended up to a certain point and can have some benefits though things like a hernia and DR are dependent on other factors including weight gain, size of your baby, etc. The biggest thing with ab work is that after the first trimester women are generally told to avoid lying on your back for long periods of time so one may want to avoid ab work that requires lying on your back for more than a few minutes.

[QUOTE=MommysFitLife;1024246773]You can do ab work during pregnancy. It's recommended up to a certain point and can have some benefits though things like a hernia and DR are dependent on other factors including weight gain, size of your baby, etc. The biggest thing with ab work is that after the first trimester women are generally told to avoid lying on your back for long periods of time so one may want to avoid ab work that requires lying on your back for more than a few minutes.[/QUOTE]

Gotcha, good to know!

Can someone tell me what they do for the surgery to repair this? I have about a 2 finger seperation in my abs. I have 4 children and didn't notice it till after my third child. I haven't worried too much about it, but after my last child they did an ultrasound to check for a hernia and there was not one, but if I lean back I do noticed something comes through that seperation. They didn't see a hernia so nothing more was ever done. Do they not usually fix the DR if there is no hernia? It concerns me a little that you have mentioned the intestines coming through and getting stuck.

Madi J~ don't let it worry you! I have 4 kids and I ran and kept fit during all 4 pregnancies. I am in better shape now than I have ever been. I did ab work though most of my pregnancies. The recomendation is nothing flat on your back after about 13 weeks so I used an exercise ball to keep me elevated up for crunches and standing ab work is okay too. I have no idea what caused my DR, but I didn't have it till after my 3rd. I didn't gain a terrible amount of weight with any of my pregnancies. 26# with my first, and just over 40# was the most with any of the 4. I had cecarean's for all of them so maybe that contributed?

[QUOTE=runnermommaof4;1024894593] Do they not usually fix the DR if there is no hernia? It concerns me a little that you have mentioned the intestines coming through and getting stuck. [/QUOTE]

Insurance often won't cover it even if there IS a hernia. After my intestines got stuck, it was sort of an emergency thing so I didn't get time to ask too many questions, but I was pretty surprised that rather than sew up the gap where the hernias are coming from, they only addressed the hernia. Insurance is willing to cover all the hernias that I get as a result of this, but diastasis repair is considered 'cosmetic' and not covered. Weird. They would actually save money if they just sutured the gap.

Plastic surgeons do diastasis repair as part of a tummy tuck procedure, so that is what I am doing with the next hernia surgery.

If you are just 2 finger widths though, that is considered 'healed'.

Wow that's a shame! It's covered here.

Interesting on the insurance. My hubby is in the Army so we have Tricare. Not sure if it's any different than other inusrance companies. I'll have to ask when I go in for my yearly next month. It doesn't bother me, if it's good and no risk of issues down the road. I can tell because I know it's there, but I don't think others would unless I point it out. Now when I am doing ab work I def. feel and see it seperate pretty good. Just sitting here though 2 fingers is about all it seperates. I tried to get the doctor to do a tummy tuck with my last c-section, but he didn't go for it. ;) I figured since he was already in there he could hook me up, but no such luck on that.

I had really bad DS too. It caused a hernia under my navel in my 2nd pregnancy. They repaired the hernia after birth cause I was already cut open from the c section. Im not so much worried about the diastisis , as I am about my deflated balloon belly skin covered in stretch marks. Tummy tuck will have to be in order for me...Good luck, hope you can achieve closing the gap if physically possible!

So, I was never told to bind my abs after having my daughter. She is now 4 1/2 years old...is it too late to repair my diastasis on my own? I have set some awesome goals for myself and hoped to reach them, but having just learned that all the abdominal work that i have been doing may end up hurting me is a huge scare...

-Jenn

[QUOTE=ilovethe80s;1024947193]Insurance often won't cover it even if there IS a hernia. After my intestines got stuck, it was sort of an emergency thing so I didn't get time to ask too many questions, but I was pretty surprised that rather than sew up the gap where the hernias are coming from, they only addressed the hernia. Insurance is willing to cover all the hernias that I get as a result of this, but diastasis repair is considered 'cosmetic' and not covered. Weird. They would actually save money if they just sutured the gap.

Plastic surgeons do diastasis repair as part of a tummy tuck procedure, so that is what I am doing with the next hernia surgery.

If you are just 2 finger widths though, that is considered 'healed'.[/QUOTE]

If you are considered healed can you do crunches and all the other stuff again?

old thread, but anyone here have a good update on how things are going for their DR. I am in the same boat.

[QUOTE=bellyphat;1138153073]old thread, but anyone here have a good update on how things are going for their DR. I am in the same boat.[/QUOTE]


Ya i just had my plastic surgeon sew them back together ;-)