During pregnancy, the elasticity of your abdominal muscles enables them to stretch to accommodate your growing baby. However, the linea alba is made up mostly of collagen, which is less elastic than muscle. For many women, the linea alba thins during pregnancy and gradually tightens up again over several weeks postpartum. But in some instances, the linea alba is stretched to the point of separation, leaving an undesirable gap between the right and left sides of the RA.
Not only is diastasis recti cosmetically undesirable, giving you a postpartum tummy that will not go away, but it can interfere with the overall function of your abdominal canister, leading to a plethora of related issues.
Reduced abdominal function from diastasis recti can restrict physical activity, which can be devastating for athletic women who want to remain active.
Pregnancy is the primary cause of diastasis recti, but certain other factors can contribute to its likelihood:
Getting in shape before pregnancy, maintaining a healthy weight and practicing lifestyle behaviors that promote healthy collagen production can reduce your risk of diastasis recti.
The best and the most precise way to assess diastasis recti is by using diagnostic ultrasonography. The benefits are:
Please explore more advanced diagnostic option unavailable anywhere else:
In an effort to flatten a postpartum belly, many women begin an exercise program of challenging abdominal exercises like crunches and leg lifts, but those exercises can sometimes make the condition worse.
Other women try wrapping the abdomen to draw the RA together, hoping the collagen will repair itself, which is ineffective. In severe cases, some women even have cosmetic surgery to close the gap. However, cosmetic solutions do not restore full function to the abdominal canister, which is the real problem posed by diastasis recti. Diastasis recti physical therapy offers a conservative, non-invasive treatment solution.
The pelvic pain specialists at NYDNR use a targeted conservative approach to treating diastasis recti. Our therapy is individualized, taking into account the specific needs of each patient.
You do not have to live with a diastasis recti that keeps you from living a healthy active lifestyle. At NYDNR, we combine innovative therapies with state-of-the-art technology to restore your abdominal function and integrity, so you can enjoy the very best quality of life.
Diastasis recti is a separation of the rectus abdominal wall, coupled with an influx of pregnancy hormones that soften connective tissue. While often painless, many women consider the condition to be cosmetically disfiguring.
Because the muscles of the abdominal canister protect the spine and stabilize the pelvis during physical activity, diastasis recti can inhibit and impede physical performance. When left untreated, diastasis recti can lead to low back and pelvic pain, constipation, movement dysfunction, and hernia.
Diagnosis of diastasis recti entails a manual physical exam and diagnostic ultrasonography to assess the severity of the condition.
While surgery may be a viable treatment option in severe cases, it will not restore function of the rectus abdominal strengthening exercises like crunches and leg lifts should be avoided, as they can aggravate the condition.
The post-partum specialists at NYDNRehab use conservative targeted methods and specific interventions that are clinically proven to activate the deep abdominal wall, using a combination of DNS (dynamic neuromuscular stabilization) and ISM (integrated system model) approaches.
You do not have today, and see why the sports medicine professionals at NYDNRehab are considered the very best in NYC.