Healing a Diastasis Post Partum
Diastasis Mini Series
Part One: What Causes a Diastasis?
Part Two: Healing a Diastasis Post Partum
Part Three: Breathing Techniques to Heal a Diastasis
Part Four: Proper Posture to Heal a Diastasis
Part Five: Hypopressive Training to Heal a Diastasis
Last week, we discussed what a diastasis is and what causes it. When left untreated, a diastasis can lead to various issues such as back pain, incontinence, prolapse, pelvic floor dysfunction, bloating, and digestive problems. Healing a diastasis requires a comprehensive approach that addresses multiple factors, including posture, breathing, hydration, diet, and exercise. In this post, we’ll explore the importance of a holistic approach to diastasis recovery and I’ll provide you with some simple tips and exercises to kickstart the healing process.
Tips for Healing a Diastasis
Hydration and Diet for Diastasis Recovery
Hydration is incredibly important part of healing a diastasis. The tissue we are targeting to heal for diastasis recovery is white connective tissue, also known as fascia. The goal in diastasis recovery is to strengthen and shrink the fascia between the abdominal muscles. Fascia must be in a hydrated state in order for it to shrink and become stronger. If you are dehydrated, your tissues (especially your connective tissue) will not have the capacity to heal. It will be very challenging to strengthen and shrink a dry and dehydrated linea alba. I recommend drinking at least half of your body weight in ounces of water per day to ensure you are hydrated. In addition, adding minerals to your water will improve the absorption of the water into your fascia.
In addition to ensuring the hydration of your fascia, it’s helpful to make sure you have enough protein and fat in your diet as well. Strengthening fascia requires new collagen fibers are laid down in a parallel fashion. Ensuring your body has enough protein to make new collagen fibers is important in the healing process. I recommend eating 70-100 grams of protein per day. This can come from animals or plants. Protein shakes and collagen powders are also great ways to supplement. Adequate healthy fats in your diet will aid in improving the hydration of your fascia as well. Healthy fats live avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, grass fed butter, ghee, and macadamia nuts are excellent ways to improve the hydration of your connective tissue and speed the healing process.
Bowel and Bladder Hygiene for Diastasis Recovery
Constipation can worsen a diastasis. So ensuring you are having 1-3 bowel movements per day is key in healing a diastasis. To ensure regular bowel movements, make sure you keep up on your daily water intake as I mentioned above, and include plenty of fruits and vegetables into your diet to get adequate fiber. The bulk of every meal should be vegetables. I recommend eating at least 7 cups of vegetables per day. Taking psyllium husk is another great way to improve bowel regularity and increase fiber. Another part of bowel hygiene that is important for healing a diastasis is NOT pushing or straining when you void (poop). Pushing and straining to have a bowel movement significantly increases intra-abdominal pressure, lowers the pelvic organs, makes the pelvic floor spasm and strains the abdominal and pelvic fascia, and this will worsen a diastasis. I recommend using the squatty potty for all bowel movements to reduce pushing and straining.
When it comes to bladder hygiene for diastasis recovery, we want a regular steady output of clear urine. Ignoring the urge to urinate (holding your pee) can worsen a diastasis by causing your bladder to overfill, which weighs down your pelvic floor and increases the pressure in your abdomen unnecessarily. Do listen to your urges and don’t hold your pee. You also want to avoid pushing and straining when urinating. Just like with bowel movements, pushing and straining will stress the abdominal and pelvic fascia unnecessarily and this will worsen a diastasis.
Exercise for Diastasis Recovery
As you learned in my last post, choosing the right exercises post partum is a critical component to healing a diastasis. Incorporating regular exercises that reduce the pressure in the abdomen is the first and most important rule for healing a diastasis. Hypopressive training is the best form of exercise to reduce the pressure in your abdomen and heal a diastasis. Exercises that promote optimal pelvic and spinal alignment are also key in diastasis recovery. Hip strengthening focusing on glute activation will ensure the strongest muscles in your body (your glutes) are doing what they should in your every day life. And last but certainly not least, targeted postural training and breath work exercise that focus on the eccentric strengthening of the abdominals are the cornerstone to diastasis recovery. This type of exercise routine combines hypopressive breathing with targeted movements to strengthen the core muscles and facilitate diastasis closure.
However, as a mom myself, I understand that it can be challenging to find time to do a whole exercise routine when you are post partum, especially during the early post partum period. No problem if that’s the case for you! Even without taking a comprehensive approach like the exercise routine described above, there are four main things that anyone can do throughout their day—that do NOT require you to set aside time to exercise—that can significantly improve a diastasis!
It’s all about your POSTURE and how you BREATHE throughout your day. The upcoming posts in this mini series will delve into more detail on maintaining proper posture and practicing mindful breathing throughout the day to promote healing of a diastasis.
Resuming Normal Activity Postpartum
When it comes to resuming normal activity postpartum, it is essential to proceed with caution and consider the state of your body beyond physical healing. While you may receive clearance from your OB at 6 weeks, your connective tissues may still be lax, and the relaxin hormone from breastfeeding can continue to contribute to ligamentous laxity. Avoid activities that increase abdominal and pelvic pressure, such as running, jumping, and heavy lifting. Instead, focus on low-impact exercises like walking and swimming, incorporate hypopressive breathing, and engage in high-repetition, low-weight exercises that prioritize breathing, posture and glute strengthening. Remember to check your cough test before incorporating high impact activities into your exercise routine. Ensuring your core muscles are functioning properly before introducing high impact exercise is critical to preventing a diastasis.
Taking Time to Heal and Recover
Healing a diastasis requires a comprehensive approach that addresses various aspects of postpartum recovery. By considering factors like posture, breathwork, hydration, diet, and targeted exercises, you can effectively support diastasis closure and minimize the risk of complications. Remember, diastasis healing takes time, and it's important to listen to your body's needs throughout the process. With patience, dedication, and a holistic approach, you can heal your diastasis for good!
If you have a diastasis, rest assured, it can be fixed no matter how far post partum you are. In The Core Recovery Method® Online Program, you can learn all the skills and exercises necessary for closing a diastasis in a simple and comprehensive protocol. Addressing a diastasis through targeted exercises and wholistic rehabilitation can help restore core strength, improve posture, reduce pain, optimize organ position, improve digestion, elimination, and hormonal regulation.
The Core Recovery Method® is ideal to use during pregnancy as well, to prepare you for delivery, prevent diastasis post partum, reduce pain and other common pregnancy-related symptoms. The same protocol is that is used during pregnancy is also implemented post partum to close the abdominal muscles.
