How Pelvic Health Physiotherapy Can Help Diastasis Rectus?
What is Diastasis Rectus?
Diastasis rectus is decreased integrity or firmness of the connective tissue between the two sides of the rectus abdominis, or ‘6 pack’ muscles. Some definitions refer to a separation between the two, however the muscle and connective tissue are still intact. The condition occurs often in pregnancy and postpartum, but may also occur in infants, older women, and men.
The good news? It’s a highly treatable condition, and pelvic physiotherapy can help!
What Causes Diastasis Rectus?
Pregnancy is a risk factor, as well as intense physical exercise, a large abdomen and poor intra abdominal pressure management.
How Do You Assess Diastasis Rectus?
As part of our assessment we look at your medical history as well as when your symptoms began and how they impact your activity and daily life. To physically assess diastasis rectus we ask you to lie on your back doing a mini sit up. We feel the line between the two sides of muscle above, at, and below the belly button, to see how ‘squishy’ the connective tissue is. We can feel how wide and how deep that line is. We also observe for any doming or tenting of the abdominal wall. We can repeat this in different positions, such as the plank position.
How Do We Treat Diastasis Rectus?
To improve the integrity of the abdominal wall, we train the transversus abdominus (TA), also known as the corset muscle, which wraps around the torso. It attaches on the lower ribs and upper pelvis. To engage your TA, try this: standing with knees slightly bent, inhale and fill your belly like a balloon. Allow your belly to drop down and fully relax as you do this. As you exhale, draw your belly button lightly in and up.
This is the first step: connection. Once you master this, you can train coordination and strength. We progress the exercises from standing towards more challenging postures such as plank, and from static to dynamic exercises.
Why is it Important to Treat Diastasis Rectus?
The abdominal muscles form the front wall of the core canister. They support the low back, and work in harmony with the pelvic floor to provide stability. The transversus abdominus works in tandem with your pelvic floor muscles. Postpartum, you’ll likely feel much better with strong and flexible core and pelvic floor, especially once you start returning to exercise like running and weight training.
If you’re worried you have disastasis rectus, try a self assessment as described above. Tall Tree’s physiotherapists in pelvic health are here to help!
Susannah Stewart, Physiotherapist
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