2.04.2015

Wellness Wednesday 5: Plastic Surgery for Diastasis Recti

Actually I want to answer Wellness Wednesday prompt number 1 for this week post, about how do I cope with stress. But because I've already wrote about it last year (I wrote it in Bahasa Indonesia, you can still read it in your languange by translator button hint), I think I just leave the link here and choose another prompt to write.


At first, I have no idea what prompt will I choose. I am not a gym lover I prefer to walk and run around or do workout at home and I don't know much about health myths debunked except cold water doesn't cause overweight, so I decided to write the answer of Wellness Wednesday prompt number 2: "Would you consider going under the knife for better figure? Why?".



Before answering that, I want to share you about diastasis recti. If you don't have any clue about diastasis recti, here are some descriptions that I found in internet:

Diastasis recti (also known as abdominal separation) defined as a separation of the rectus abdominis muscle into right and left halves. ~wikipedia.org

Diastasis recti means your belly sticks out because the space between your left and right belly muscles has widened. ~webmd.com

As long as I read, diastasis recti is very common among pregnant women (with twin or heavy baby), postpartum women, newborn baby, and men/women whose doing sit-ups or weight-lifting the wrong way, or practice yo-yo dieting. Some condition can cause inconvenient like lower back pain, constipation, poor posture, urine leaking, hard to breath and move normally, or even more extreme, hernia (tissue may tear and organs may poke out of the opening). :(

That's why baby and person with extreme of diastasis recti (like hernia) need to get surgery treatment immediately. There are some surgical procedures to handle this abdominal separation, known as an abdominoplasty and a laparoscopic venetian blind technique. These procedures indeed carries certain risks and complications. The risks may be serious or life-threatening like infection, blood clots, thrombosis, cardiac and pulmonary complications, etc. 

*

Now, as I told you in my previous posts (in 2013), I have postpartum diastasis recti. Not severe, but it's there. Sometimes it distrub me when I looked into the mirror. I don't like it. But my husband said it's okay to have that (as long as it not harm my life). Of course it will be better if I don't have diastasis recti but it just happened.

Don't cry over spilled milk. ~anonymous


Hmm.

The good news is, diastasis recti can be healed not only by surgery. The separation can also be reduced by physiotherapy. Do the right exercises like core contraction, seated squeeze, head lift, upright push-up, squat againts the wall, and squat with squeeze. Don't try to do frontal plank, oblique twists, pilates, reverse leg lowers and all kind of crunches because these exercise moves can increase separation. 

Lately, I do diastasis execise (but not regularly yet). I feel better. Yes it still there but it's okay. :)

The exercise is cheap, easy and safe than surgery. So, if you ask me "Would you consider going under the knife for better figure?", I would say "I won't, except in an emergency situation or harming life".  I think thats make sense enough.. :)

Ok. That's all. Hope you always healthy, fellas. Bye!

More about diastasis recti:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diastasis_recti
http://www.webmd.com/baby/abdominal-separation-diastasis-recti

More about diastasis recti treatment:
- Abdominoplasty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdominoplasty)
- Laparoscopic plication with the 'Venetian blinds' technique (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19214651)