I Have a Self Diagnosed Diastasis Recti. Now What?

28 year old male with a self diagnosed Diastasis Recti. I don't believe the exercises will work, but I'm not happy about the "tummy tuck" procedure either. Can this be corrected laparoscopically? I'm also slightly overweight and need to loose some wight before the surgery. I was thinking about doing P90X. Will traditional abdominal exercise make this condition worse? If I do abdominal exercises with this condition, will my abs take on a unusual form and cause problems when I get this repaired?

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5 Doctor Answers | Asked by AC84

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Rectus diastasis is a separation of the rectus abdominis muscles.

Rectus diastasis is a separation of the rectus abdominis muscles. It can vary in terms of severity. It can be mild or it can be extreme. If the rectus diastasis is extreme, abdominal contents like small bowel and intestinal fat can herniate through this opening. Exercise will not fix this problem. Exercise will probably make the problem of rectus diastasis worse. I would not encourage you to do abdominal exercises to try to improve this condition. The only way to correct rectus diastasis is... more

Diastasis Recti in Males

I would find a good plastic surgeon and get an exam before I plan for a surgery for rectus diastasis. This is fairly unusual for a young healthy male. Kenneth Hughes, MD male tummy tuck Los Angeles, CA

Self diagnosed diastasis?

One would want to know what you mean by that as its very uncommon in men unless you were massively overweight at one time. Regardless, you do need to get to your baseline weight before considering surgery and exercise will not hurt so you're encouraged to do as much as you can as it will make it easier for your doctor to appreciate when you have your consultation. Endoscopic repairs can be done so you should make sure your surgeon is proficient at that technique since not all of... more

Curtis Wong, MD

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Redding Plastic Surgeon

Diastasis Recti.

Agree that you should first get down to ideal weight. At that time, see a plastic surgeon to review the options. Some patients can have this done endoscopically, but if there is a wide diastasis, the skin will be brought together by the repair and may therefore buckle causing an unexpected appearance that is not pleasant. The overwhelming majority of diastasis repairs are done at the time of tummy tuck. Best wishes.

Abdominoplasty and diastisis recti

You are absolutley right about deferring any type of surgery until you lose some weight and stablize your conditions. Any type of exercise, conventional or specific for muscle strenghening would not have any paradoxical effect on your diastisis recti prior to your syrgery. Your condition could be repaired with or without tummy tuck, but not by laparascopy. Endoscopic remedy, however is available for selected patients.