Diastasis Recti

Diastasis Recti. What is it?

Diastasis recti is more commonly known as abdominal separation. It is an increase in the distance between your abdominal muscles due to the stretching of the connective tissue (line alba) that joins them together.

This is a completely normal process that occurs during pregnancy. In fact, it needs to happen to make room for your baby!

How long will it take till it’s back to normal?

This is different for everyone! The research shows that many remain wider than normal at 12 weeks post-partum. Often abdominal separation can go away on its own but there are many things we can do to help rebuild strength and control through your abdominal and assist in recovery.

What can I do?

The first step is to get your separation assessed by a women’s health physiotherapist so that they can determine the distance and the quality of the tissue and see how this fits with how functional you are and the goals you have.

Two simple things that you can begin to do to help with your recovery are:

1. Abdominal compression: this can be done via high-waisted tights, SRC compression shorts or other forms of compression (such as tubigrip).
2. Mini crunches/curl ups: this helps to start introducing load in a safe way that won’t put stress on the line alba. This is best to be done under supervision at first.

Get in touch with our team to learn how we can help you prepare or recover from Diastasis Recti!