Abdominal + Pelvic Floor PT

I wanted to share my experience with physical therapy because I found it sooo helpful.  After having Emerson, I was very careful about getting back into any ab work, and waited until nearly a year to start the ab sections of videos or classes. However, my core just didn’t feel right, and I was so afraid of making anything worse. Plus, my doctor had never actually checked me for diastasis recti (the official term for ab separation) and I was worried I had it. I decided to seek out a pelvic floor therapist to just get some answer to my questions. I also had a second degree tear, and although I didn’t have a lot of lingering pain, my doctor had said a pelvic floor therapist could work wonders on the scar tissue.

The physical therapist (I went to Physiologic for any locals out there) started with an assessment of not only my abs, but many of the muscle areas related to the core and pelvic floor.  I had a 2 finger ab separation (apparently pretty standard) and she also determined that my hip flexers and adductors were super tight and my glutes relatively weak. Our core sessions consisted of manual therapy and some deep tissue work, core and glute strengthening exercises, and then exercises I had to do for homework. My therapist also did an internal pelvic floor assessment (not as awkward as I would have thought) and then did some tissue release around my tailbone and scar area over a couple of sessions.

The therapist would feel my core during the exercises to determine if I was able to keep the muscles pulled in. I think the most valuable part of the experience was just learning about how I should be holding my core during activity and/or exercise to pull the abs closer together and not make the separation worse. For example, any movement (including carrying Emerson) where I’m pushing out my stomach or holding my breath  is not good! If you can’t hold it in = don’t do the exercise. This has made me so much more aware of when I need to modify exercises (which is still pretty much all ab work on my back). In today’s day and age, where instructors sometimes push towards unrealistic goals and do things quickly, it has been nice to slow down and focus on form and building strenth. I was confused before about what I should and should not be doing for my core postpartum and it has been so helpful to follow up with a professional and ask questions.  My core felt stronger in just a few weeks, and after a month of PT, the therapist confirmed that my separation had gone from two fingers to one and a half.  Although, she said many people’s abs never close all the way again, so I might have made all the progress I’m going to make.

As for my pelvic floor, I’ve definitely made progress with the exercises (number of kegals and length of time for one long hold), so I guess it’s stronger?  I feel like I can jump around a little bit more without anything leaking out, but that was never that bad to begin with. I’ll continue with the exercises and continue to also draw the pelvic floor up when pulling the abs in.

Overall, the experience made me more aware of my core and pelvic floor and how these muscles work together and clarified a lot of the information I’d seen flying around the internet.  I feel stronger and I think my organs are being held in just a bit tighter:) If you feel like things are off after having a baby, or are just curious, I’d definitely recommend a pelvic floor/postpartum physical therapist.