What is abdominal diastasis? How does it present itself? What are its symptoms?

Abdominal diastasis can sometimes occur after pregnancy . It is important to recognize and treat it.

Diastasis is the separation of the rectus abdominis muscles along their line of conjunction. It is a little-known problem. This is why we asked Valentina (follow her di lei on Instagram: you can find her di lei as @ valemilly88 or by clicking on this link ) to tell us about her experience di lei. She didn’t know she suffered from it and discovered she had a problem with abdominal diastasis only after starting a pole dance class.

Hello Polers!!! My name is Valentina and I am 32 years old, I have a 7 year old daughter and a great passion for this magical sport.
I have always been a sportswoman even if nothing fascinated me. When my daughter was 3 years old, I tried a Pole Dance course and it was love at first sight!!!
I was happy to have finally found such a stimulating sport. Despite the thousand family commitments between work, home and daughter, I was sure that nothing would stop me but… I felt that something was not right in my body.
I trained 3 times a week, with great commitment and enthusiasm, but every evening I found myself on the sofa with:

• lower back pain;
• stomach discomfort;
• difficulty digesting;
• strong feeling of heaviness in the pubic area.
• I was also forced to give up my husband’s cuddles.
  6 months went by and my husband encouraged me to give up this sport. My body rebelled and after training I only felt pain and discomfort, little by little more and more disabling and constant. But my head didn’t want to stop! As a pole dancer knows, this sport is highly addictive and is also therapeutic on a psychological level: it gave me a way to release stress and stimulated the production of endorphins.
  I was between a rock and a hard place. During the lessons I watched the younger girls or girls my age (I was 28/29 years old) without children, who in a few months developed strength, confidence and flew on the pole. I progressed but more slowly; I felt less strength in my abdomen and I felt more limited despite the many workouts and years of sports behind me, a normal weight physique. Nothing on paper that prevented me from moving forward. There was something mysterious that kept me firm in the thought that, now as a mother, I couldn’t do certain things. Maybe this wasn’t a suitable sport for a mother? A mother can’t do certain abdominal efforts? I didn’t want to believe it and I started doing all kinds of research, to no avail.
  One day, fate wanted a client of mine to confide in me, she told me that she would have to undergo surgery to suture her rectus abdominis muscles that were causing her significant diastasis as well as various hernias. Her symptoms were identical to mine.
  The topic was unknown to me.
  I have always been thin, fit and with a “flat” stomach. I was exactly as I was before pregnancy so I never thought I could have any problems caused by pregnancy.
  I decided to book a visit with the same surgeon as my client and finally got an answer to all my questions and doubts. He diagnosed me with significant abdominal diastasis and an umbilical hernia. At that point I had to decide whether or not to have surgery and give up forever any sport where you do crunches (bend your torso or raise your legs). So goodbye, pole, no sports where you jump like in Zumba or other cardio fitness classes, no horse riding, no cross fit… nothing! Otherwise I would have risked getting worse and worse, feeling worse and worse. I would have risked the hernia getting “strangled”; I would have risked the pelvic floor muscles getting worse (already compromised by the weight of pregnancy and childbirth). The pelvic floor muscles would have taken on all the weight of the intestinal viscera, as they were not supported by the abdominal wall. I would have had to live with constant back pain. I could improve the situation by doing hypopressive abdominals and that’s it, nothing more. My world fell apart a bit. I finally had a diagnosis but, at 29, my life should have stopped. From the outside, I looked like a normal girl and I couldn’t accept it. I just wanted to train, feel good, live my relationship with serenity, be healthy and in good health for at least the next 50 years.
  So I decided to have the surgery, I had so many motivations that supported me mentally at each subsequent step.
  I carefully chose the surgery technique (there are many). I wanted to be sure to fix my problem but at the same time I wanted to be sure that I wouldn’t have relapses and that I could get back to training.
  The surgery went well, 48 hours of hospitalization and 1 month off work, rest and quiet walks. It wasn’t easy. It was painful but I knew that I would finally be well. After 3 weeks, rehabilitation began. Every day I had to do exercises prescribed by the surgeon and I would have to do so for at least 1 year. Every 2 or 3 weeks they varied the exercises based on my progress and the needs of my body. After 6 months…..I was back on the pole swinging happy, carefree and without pain, without any discomfort of any kind.
  Now it’s been 2 and a half years since the surgery and I can do everything without limits and without risks. I’m fine!!! 😊

And have you already heard of abdominal diastasis? Have you suffered from it? Leave us a comment