Diastasis recti: understanding the condition

The abdominal muscles normally meet at the centre of the front body wall. When the connective tissue between them stretches, the gap can be felt above, at, or below the belly button. You may notice doming when rising from bed, coughing or lifting, along with difficulty coordinating your core. Some people have no pain.

Pregnancy is a common context, but diastasis recti can also follow repeated pressure, major changes in abdominal load or abdominal surgery. A self-check cannot reliably separate it from a hernia or other causes of a lump. A clinician looks at movement, tenderness and function rather than judging the gap alone.

Start with comfortable breathing and gentle abdominal coordination, then progress loading under guidance. Exhale during effort and avoid holding your breath. Turn onto your side to get up if a straight sit-up causes doming. A pelvic-health physiotherapist can adapt exercises to pregnancy stage, postpartum recovery, symptoms and goals. Postnatal Physiotherapy may be useful if your separation followed birth.

Seek urgent help for a sudden, painful or firm abdominal lump, skin colour change over a lump, vomiting, or severe swelling. Arrange a timely appointment for persistent pain, increasing bulging, weakness that limits daily tasks, or bowel and bladder changes. Those symptoms require an examination; they should not be explained away as muscle separation.

Ask how the finding was identified, whether a hernia needs excluding, which exercises are appropriate now, and how progress will be judged. You can also ask when to increase lifting, return to sport, or seek another assessment.