What we know about diastasis recti has changed significantly over the last few years, thanks to amazing women’s health trail blazers (and physical therapists) like Julie Wiebe and Diane Lee. I have written about diastasis recti in the past, and this is an UPDATED overview of what we know NOW. Diagnosing diastasis recti is quite different than how we diagnosed it a few years ago.
What is Diastasis Recti?
Diastasis recti (also known as abdominal muscle separation) is when the left and right sides of the abdominal muscles are separated. This is commonly seen in pregnant and postpartum women, but can also be found in children and other adults. For our purposes, we’re going to discuss diastasis recti in pre and postnatal women.
In a pre-pregnancy body (assuming it’s a healthy, functioning body), the abdominal muscles are usually held closely together by connective tissue (linea alba), which runs down the midline of the body from sternum to pubic bone. In the case of diastasis recti, the linea alba has become stretched and lax so the abdominal muscles are no longer being held tightly together. You can feel this when you do a diastasis recti self-check. The connective tissue along your abdominal wall will feel weak and squishy when you press on it and you’ll be able to measure the distance between the left and right sides of your abdominal muscles.
Please click here for a the full article on Diastasis Recti, which lives on my sister site Healthy Habits Happy Moms.
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