To be clear, the surgical repair of diastasis without the presence of a hernia is controversial among surgeons. There is no current national guidance in the medical community on the treatment of abdominal separation, and there are very few studies assessing the success rates of surgery for treating diastasis. What complicates the surgical question is that there are two avenues of approach for treatment: using a mesh patch and opting of a non-mesh method to treat diastasis recti. What convolutes the whole equation in my mind is that the non-mesh method, while much safer, is often ineffective in my opinion. And the mesh procedure, which appears to work in terms of closing the gap, potentially opens the patient up to massive infection, chronic pain and a series of other unwanted side effects, currently being monitored by the FDA. So the options are really a double-edged scalpel, so to speak.
First, let’s take a look at the non-mesh option, technically referred to as the plication of the linea alba. On the positive side, this can be done with laparoscopic surgery, which has its advantages in terms of reduced recovery time, less pain and a smaller chance of wound infection than in conventional open surgery. The folding and stitching of the linea alba does appear to strengthen a person’s abdominal support system. However, nobody ever said for how long. At the time of writing this, I’ve found NO case studies assessing the long-term effectiveness of plication surgery.
While some surgeons claim that because they make the sutures in several rows, using permanent nylon, so they provide a lot of support and don’t dissolve, I’ve seen evidence to the contrary. More than once I’ve had clients who have literally busted their stitches by putting undue inter-abdominal force on their recti muscles after surgery. And I’m not talking about by doing crunches. I’m talking about by living.
With the end goal of teaching clients to make their abdominal surgery successful for the long-term, I produced a video called Ab Rehab, which teaches you how to go about living your everyday life after a surgical procedure without exerting force on the muscles that need to heal.
These are the basic principles of the Tupler Technique® that you should be doing regardless, but I also give you pre-op advice to maximize your chances of success.
In my professional opinion, based on the evidence I’ve seen, if someone masters The Tupler Technique® before abdominal surgery, they’ve got a great chance of maintaining the integrity of their stitches afterwards. But in the case of only having a diastasis and no hernia, why not just learn to heal your muscles using the program?
The other kind of diastasis surgery besides the plication method is a mesh patch procedure, sometimes referred to as a “plug-and-patch” technique. Truth be told, I shudder when I hear the word mesh in a surgical context. The mesh is a synthetic material that can cause chronic long-term pain or infection in a startling number of patients — quoted at 30% by The Wall Street Journal.
Okay, so we’ve gone over the surgical options for diastasis and you know where I stand. The Tupler Technique® is the only non-surgical method of treatment for diastasis that has been clinically proven by independent research to be effective.
My client list of twenty-plus years doesn’t lie.
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
Watch the short video below to know what a diastasis is.
