I haven’t written a Dear…. letter in a while but some recent interactions and online posts on diastasis have brought out my mama bear and my pen. So here goes….

Dear pros that keep telling mamas that they can’t fix their diastasis if it has been longer than a year since their delivery,

Let’s start with….WHY? Why in the world would this be true? As rehab pros we treat and change LONG standing issues of all kinds for our patients. The body and brain are beautifully adaptable! That adaption capacity is what allows us to grow a baby. Why would that capacity be any less available after you gave birth, whether it be one, two, five or twenty years later. We can strength train and see adaptive changes in muscle into very old age. We can improve bone density with weight bearing exercise after osteopenia or osteoporosis is discovered. We can change long standing persistent pain with education. Why would a diastasis be the only physical foe that wins if you don’t fight it in the first year??  

I know this thought process of a year as a line in the sand, is borne from a study that came out a while back. It is not on my fingertips to source, but even reading it then….it did not jive with what I see clinically. I have long been an advocate for defining diastasis better, eliminating fear mongering via stats online and an integrative approach. My agenda continues by addressing this particular myth, because I regularly help women who are years beyond their last delivery.

But here is the rub…I don’t help everyone.  They can be near or far in years from their early motherhood, but some don’t get to a successful outcome.  So the passage of time cannot be the deciding variable on who improves and who doesn’t. Instead, it has to do with 1) their bodies capacity for fascia recovery, 2) their ability and willingness to change how they are using their body and 3) honestly, their belief that they can recover conservatively.

1. I can help you conservatively with your diastasis IF your fascia is of the quality (this is genetics and hormones) or has retained the elasticity (if it hasn’t been overly thinned, in part due to its genetic susceptibility) to respond to stimulation (tension, challenge, load). A significant majority of women have this kind of positively responsive fascia.
2. You will need some new strategies for movement, breath mechanics, abdominal recruitment patterns and partnerships, form/alignment, intra-abdominal pressure management and mindfulness in how you approach daily tasks and fitness.
3. Women that have been convinced even for a small diastasis that they need surgery, participate and respond differently to care, than those who want to avoid that at all costs.

#3 can be the toughest thing for me to overcome as your clinician. Beliefs are strong, so strong. That is why it is so important to change our messaging online, our education about diastasis and other pelvic health issues, and to quit with the fear laced platitudes.  To start instead with #educatedhope, and the belief that your body and brain (and diastasis too) are resilient is such a different message.

Mama Bear… Out

Wanna pursue integrative ideas for a solution to your diastasis (Check this out)

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