Find a specialist near you for personalized diastasis recti care and treatment.

Nearly 100% of women will have a diastasis recti at the end of pregnancy. Over the first year postpartum, there is much change that will happen to the abdominal wall. Diastasis recti therapy with a pelvic floor therapist is an effective treatment for diastasis recti. 

The three key components to finding a diastasis recti specialist is: finding a licensed physical therapist that works with the postpartum population, finding someone that has a real-time ultrasound, ensuring that your therapy is functional and meaningful to you.

First, the best person to reach out to if you are looking for a diastasis recti specialist is a licensed physical therapist. PTs are experts in muscle retraining and are movement experts.

Not all physical therapists are diastasis recti specialists however. Diastasis recti therapy is a specific type of physical therapy. Not all physical therapists have the training in how to rehabilitate a postpartum woman’s core and how to structure a safe yet effective rehab program for them. 

In addition, not all pelvic floor therapists are qualified to treat diastasis recti. Finding a pelvic floor therapist that primarily provides prenatal physical therapy and postpartum physical therapy is key.

You should ask the right questions about the training and whether or not the therapist has taken advanced training in diastasis recti therapy. Also, if you start a treatment program with a physical therapist and notice the other patients are men, older clientele, or even pediatrics, you may not be in the right place. 

A true diastasis recti specialist will have other patients that look just like you! Someone that specializes in diastasis recti treatment works mostly with the postpartum/young female population.

The next part of diastasis recti treatment with a diastasis recti specialist is working with someone that uses real-time ultrasound. With real time ultrasound, the physical therapist can use an ultrasound image (similar to what you have when you are pregnant) to see the muscles of the core activating while a patient is performing certain exercises. 

In order to ensure that your diastasis recti treatment is targeted at the right muscles, using an ultrasound helps us know that you are using the right muscles and that the diastasis is actually improving. 

Lastly, a diastasis recti specialist will incorporate functional movements and will never give blanket statements like “planks are bad for you” or “never do sit ups”. These are fear based statements and not supported by the research. 

A true diastasis recti specialist will customize an exercise program for you and will give you diastasis recti exercises that are customized to your specific needs. We want to make sure that we are training towards the activities that are meaningful to you. 

There are three components that you should look for when considering seeing a diastasis recti specialist. They include seeing: a licensed physical therapist that works primarily with postpartum women, someone that uses real time ultrasound in treatments, and someone that will give you meaningful and customized diastasis recti exercises.

We can set up a consultation to get you off to the right start, or can refer you to someone that is local to you. Click here for more information on how we can help you!