Q about diastasis recti/abdominal muscle separation

[AnditheBee]

So I've been reading about this, in an attempt to figure out why my tummy is refusing to shrink whatsoever...I would think that at 10 weeks pp I would have seen more shrinkage...so I checked for separation of the muscles a couple weeks ago, and the muscles were about 2 finger widths apart. So I tried the exercises that are recommended (the supported head lifts with a navel-to-spine pilates clench). I am trying to get things in shape to start real pilates again this summer (in about 4 weeks)...I do pilates for a chronic upper back problem, btw, not (entirely) for vanity!

So today the gap is smaller than two finger widths. All the things I find say two widths or wider constitutes "separation." What about smaller gaps? Are they okay? I would like to go ahead and start some real crunches, since I can't just jump into a pilates course with these abs--I'd die! They still jiggle when I roll from one side to another in bed... But I don't want to make things worse by starting too soon, but I need to get started ASAP.

And if I the separation is healed, then why do my organs still feel like they are in that belly bulge instead of inside my torso/pelvis like they're supposed to be? The bulge does not feel like flab--it feels like guts! So my questions are:

•Am I healed from the diastasis and ready for real crunches?

•Is my "innards bulge" just caused by the normal weakness of post-partum abs? Or is there more separation than I think? Or some other problem?

•Should I try wearing some sort of support garment to get my organs back in where they belong? Or just leave them alone and hope the exercises will eventually pull them back in?

I'd ask my OB but I'm still p****d off at him and don't trust him to tell me the truth, or to even have competence/knowledge to answer me accurately. I have asked my midwife but she never got back to me...I put in a call to my osteopath but haven't heard back yet. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

[zoe398]

Yikes, I have a large separation and have gotten back into a regular work-out. I'm nearly 3 years postpartum, so there may be a difference, but I didn't know it could be dangerous!

[mama_b]

My belly is still about half as big as it was at full term and my dd will be 1 on Sunday. I often wonder if this is why. I am skinny everywhere but my belly. I look pg. : How do you check for separation of the muscles?

[AnditheBee]

This thread has lots of info, including the self-diagnosis as well as the basic "supported head-lift" exercise to bring them back together.

It didn't, however, answer my questions, alas!

[midwifetx]

You might find the book Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year helpful in getting all of your questions answered. It is pretty thorough.

[AnnesMoM]

Hmmm...my sil has that I think. Her dr told her it was a herniation and wouldn't heal except with surgery. Otherwise it sounds just like mama_b described. Of course, my sil isn't really the excercise kind so I don't know if it would heal that way or not.

[AnditheBee]

Just to clarify, my muscles are covering all my organs, so I don't have any herniation. It's just that the belly bulge is usually described as "flab" or "fat" and I know for certain that my belly bulge is firm, it's not just fat or flab, and I can feel colon activity just to the left of my belly button as food and gas move through.

All I wanted to know was whether less than two fingers widths is okay for exercise, and should I try to cram my belly into regular pants? When I lay on my back, everything "falls" back into my abdomen and my belly becomes flat (though jiggly and wrinkly! ) so I wonder if holding everything in with a control garment or my regular pants would be okay. I don't want to do it if it will damage my internal bits, though...

Anyone know??

[Undercover Hippie]

What happens if you are standing up and try to "suck it in" or tighten those ab muscles? Does it all go back to normal other than the wrinkly skin? Or is it impossible?

I ask because I have a lot more belly left after my second child than my first. I have finally decided it is mostly due to poorer posture and weaker abs. If I am conscious of it I can pull it all in and look normal, but if I'm not conscious of it I can easily look 5 months pregnant. Two pregnancies and years of toting around kids can take a toll! So I'm not sure if that's what you're experiencing or not. For the record, I've never had a diastasis though so it could be different.

No clue about the exercise, but I wouldn't think that regular clothes or support garments could hurt you...

[AnditheBee]

Originally Posted by Undercover Hippie

What happens if you are standing up and try to "suck it in" or tighten those ab muscles? Does it all go back to normal other than the wrinkly skin? Or is it impossible?

Oh my goodness--absolutely IMPOSSIBLE!

As I say, I know it's not just flab--I figure it's that the inner muscles that are supposed to hold my organs in place got so stretched by pregnancy that they are weak, too, so everything is too far forward, but I have no idea how to get those muscles back in shape...and my outer muscles/recti can't hold everything in by themselves, KWIM?

I wish I could ask a professional about it to make sure I'm right and find out what to do, but I'm getting ticked off at my mw and osteopath--no one is calling me back...grumble grumble...

[7kiddosmom]

In "Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year" it says that if you can fit in three or more fingers that you need to do the corrective exercises. She also states that "Everyone has a gap, the question is only how wide? One to two fingers is normal, since both gaps and fingers vary with individuals"

She also has a section in the book called "Hacking" to help reverse "jelly belly". This is what it says:

"A type of deep massage called hacking stimulates the proprioceptors, which are deeper than nerve endings in the skin. Use a relaxed chopping motions with the outer border of your hands. Go up and down as well as side to side. Hack with your head raised and muscles tense. Hack with your belly soft; hack with a pelvic tilt. In other words-hack both with and without muscle contraction."

She also says that once the gap is closed you can resume your normal exercises.

I had a seperation w/ my 6th baby. It didn't take long after his birth to get the gap closed, maybe a week. It was strange that I did not have any seperation w/ my 7th baby.

Hope this helped,
Kasey

[L'lee]

You might also check out Julie Tupler's "Lose Your Mummy Tummy", she has some good advice and discusses pilates and how some exercises can actually damage your transverse muscles, and how to use a splint to help heal the muscles. You can probably find it in a local library.

Julie has studied with Penny Simkin and really seems to know what she is talking about. She outlines a regular exercise program to help tone your abdominal muscles after birth.

[AnditheBee]

L'lee, I just ordered that book yesterday! I hope it does help, thanks for the tip.

7kiddosmom, I almost ordered that book, but I decided to go with something more specific to my particular issue, so thanks very much for sharing the info! It does, however, seem to contradict itself, in that "less than 2 fingers' width is normal" but "after the gap is closed you can do pilates." Hmmm...does that mean a 1.5-finger-width must be closed before I attempt pilates? Or that my existing gap is normal and I'm okay? Am I thinking too much about this????

It would be helpful to know if I ever had a gap before...but of course one would never check that unless one had just had one's second child, I guess!

I wonder what sort of health professional would really know about this stuff? My osteopath still hasnt' called me back, and I don't even know if he'll be any help anyway...

[AnditheBee]

Just an update on "Lose Your Mummy Tummy"...she has some great advice and ideas, but I'm skeptical about some things that she says.

For example, the idea that one time sitting up wrong can "undo weeks of work" on shrinking your gap?? That doesn't make sense. If you've been toning your muscles for weeks, even if one wrong sit-up pulls them apart, they should go back together relatively quickly because they're stronger than they were when you started, KWIM? I mean, it's not like you'd have to repeat all those weeks to get the same result, after one bad sit-up! That's what she implies, but I think it's bull.

The other thing that doesn't seem logical is her criticism of classic Pilates exercises. She says they may increase or cause diastasis, but she fails to say why this is a bad thing. I mean, in retrospect, I'm fairly sure I must have had an unclosed diastasis from my first pregnancy, and that's why my tummy popped out so quickly and so hugely with this last pregnancy. I was also halfway through a beginning Pilates course and was seeing great results! So that might have made it worse, true...but what I'm thinking is--if I hadn't gotten pregnant, why would a diastasis matter? My tummy was tight and strong, my back was pain-free for the first time in years, I felt and looked great and could do things I hadn't been able to do since I was 20 years old! Who cares if I had a diastasis? It only mattered because I did get pregnant and am now having more trouble getting rid of the tummy. So why not just do Pilates if it achieves the exact same results that are listed on the Mummy Tummy book? I think I will write to the author and ask that one...

So I guess I'm too skeptical to follow the regimen listed in the book, especially since I'm not planning to ever get pregnant again. I will adopt some of the exercises, though.

I still don't know if wearing foundation garments is okay, though! I would like to just so I can fit into my normal pants again...I'm tired of the one pair of pants and the one pair of shorts (elastic-waisted, natch) that I can currently wear!