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Many people have been asking my opinion on a recent story that came out on NPR on “Flattening the mummy-tummy.” I’ve even had a few clients schedule appointments after seeing or hearing this story. Not all physical therapists were happy with this story, and in fact many were upset and wrote to NPR. NPR then did a follow up story that included the opinions of some physical therapists. (Thank you NPR for being responsive to your audience’s replies to your story.) Click on the links below to read the stories. They are fascinating.
Here is the original story:
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/08/07/541204499/flattening-the-mummy-tummy-with-1-exercise-10-minutes-a-day
Here is the follow up story:
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/08/20/542424977/getting-to-the-core-of-exercises-said-to-strengthen-mum-tum
In the original story, I love how they simply taught the women one exercise and they all had positive results from it. Both the women who were taking the class with the author as well as the 63 women in the original study. In scientific standards that is a small study, but they all had positive outcomes and that is great! Many physical therapists didn’t like this and wrote to NPR in protest. I think if you do the exercise and you have positive results than that is fabulous, however if you’re not sure how to do the exercise properly or it isn’t helping you, then it is time to call someone who can help you. That would be myself or another physical therapist who specializes in women’s health or pregnancy and post-partum therapy. There are many of us out there and we want to help you. You can look for a physical therapist with this specialty using the links below.
American Physical Therapy Association
http://www.apta.org/
APTA Section on Women's Health
http://www.womenshealthapta.org
Find a PT
http://apta.org/FindaPT/
In the follow up story they quote the opinions of several healthcare practitioners including physical therapists, doctors, and nutritionists as well as some personal trainers who work specifically with moms. The second article has more details on how to do the exercise that is recommended. I think it’s a good place to start. Read both articles. Try the exercise, but if you need more guidance please seek out the appropriate help. The first patient who came to me for this specific cause after the story was released was better in 4 visits with just a little bit of work by me and specific training on how to do this exercise as well as some others. She no longer has the back pain that she had when she first came to me and her diastasis recti is reducing. It’s pretty simple and it works. If you have this problem and need help reducing your diastasis recti or have questions on how to do the exercise in the article, please feel free to contact me at rechargetherapylbc@gmail.com or 562-285-3449. I want to help you.