Forever Fixed? Can My Diastasis Recti Re-Open After Closing?

I get emails like the one below quite often: Can my Diastasis open again once it is closed? So I would like to discuss this topic so I can share some information about Diastasis Recti, the healing process, and caring for a diastasis once it’s closed.

Here is the bottom line: Can a Diastasis re-open once it has been closed?

Yes.

Just like wearing a cast for a broken bone, you must wear the splint all the time until the connective tissue is healed.  That means it has to be shallow. Shallow connective tissue is defined as less the 2cm depth when checking your diastasis. Having shallow connective tissue means the connective is strong.  Strong connective tissue can withstand force better than weak connective tissue.

 

When you have shallow connective tissue and the distance of the Diastasis is 1-2 fingers apart, you can stop wearing the splint. (You should watch my video on checking a Diastasis with the diastometer as it will teach you how to check your Diastasis correctly, found on our website here: https://diastasisrehab.com/collections/individual-products/products/everybelly-for-a-diastasis-recti-with-a-diastometer)

Remember, if your Diastasis is 4 fingers or wider when doing the exercises, the muscles will move sideways and further apart. That is why you have to wear the splint, especially while doing the exercises, to approximate the muscles and move them in the correct direction. Once you have closed the Diastasis and the muscles are no more than 2 fingers apart and the connective is shallow, you can stop wearing the splint.

However you should NEVER stop doing the exercises. You need transverse strength so you can use it during the activities of daily living and with every repetition when exercising.  Your transverse ‘awareness’ is also important. It’s essential to remember that you  use your transverse with every move you make. Your awareness helps you to remember to use your abdominals correctly, so there is no force on your connective tissue.

While you are healing your diastasis and after it’s healed, it’s important to remember not to do exercises where you can NOT hold in your transverse muscle. That is back lying with shoulders off the floor or when your back is arched and your ribs are flared. If you cannot hold in your transverse muscle when doing any exercise or sporting activity, DON’T DO IT! This will put you at risk of stretching out your connective tissue and re-opening your diastasis.

Regarding the comment on double splinting: Double splinting is wearing one or two splints and holding another one like a scarf. The closer the muscles are together the faster the healing of the connective tissue.  However it more important to do the exercises and strengthen your muscles  and connective tissue than to double splint. So if you are driving and can’t double splint still do the exercises! 

Check out our video regarding double splinting on our website here: 

 

 

It is never too late to close a diastasis on anyone at any time. Closing a diastasis, however, is not an overnight process, but, if  you follow the Tupler Technique® program as designed, you will see the healing process beginning within three weeks!

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Dear Julie,

I have a question that you might have answered in your blog but I just can’t find where, so I hope you will be able to give me an answer or to indicate to me where I can find it on your website. 

In starting the program, I was very enthusiastic and ordered two splints and your DVD in January. After a week or so my belly button had gone in! I did the exercises very carefully for 2 months. After that my maternity leave ended and I found it much more difficult to do the exercises regularly, especially because of the double-splint requirement (not very discreet in the train…). So I admit that for the last months I did series of contractions but without the double splint and not as much as I should have. But anyway, slowly I improved and last week my diastasis was only 2 fingers wide with shallow/middle condition.

….Last week I went to a physiotherapist to get some new motivation and finally close my diastasis. She checked my diastasis and said that she believes it would close when I would stop breastfeeding because the connective tissues were shallow etc. She advised me to stop wearing the splint. I first disagreed but then the weather got really hot and the splint was uncomfortable… So I took it off for 6 days. Six days only, after wearing it 24/7 for 6 months and exercising.

Yesterday I looked at myself in the mirror and thought my belly was big. I checked my diastasis and it’s 4 fingers wide again! And my body circumference at the belly button is 6 cm wider than a week ago!

I am so discouraged and sad. Of course I put the splint back on and will go on with the exercises. But I am now really scared that even if one day I succeed in closing my diastasis, the minute I stop wearing the splint it will be back again.

So my question is: do you have testimonies of people who do not talk about how they closed their diastasis but about how it did or did not open again when they stopped wearing the splint? Is it really possible that it does not open again? My physiotherapist told me that by strengthening the transverse you can hold your recti together but that the connective tissue can never heal when it is broken (like an old rubber band). So in other words, that you can use your transverse to compensate for your connective tissue but never actually heal.

It is really annoying that nobody knows much about diastasis recti here in Switzerland. I wish there would be trainers knowing your methods here…

Thank you for your help,

Virginie

To learn more about Diastasis Recti & the Tupler Technique® read this article: DIASTASIS RECTI RESEARCH AND EVIDENCED BASED EXERCISE PROGRAM

To view my programs click this link: Save on Packages

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Do you have a spam issue on this website; I also am a blogger, and I was wondering your situation; we have created some nice
practices and wwe are looking to swap solutions with other folks, why not shoot me an e-mail iif
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