Have I left it too late for diastasis recti (separated stomach muscles) to close?

[Dayandnight90]

I gave birth 6 years ago and I still have diastasis recti, it is not a huge separation but I would like it to close over hopefully as they were before giving birth. However I was once told you need to the the exercises close to the time after giving birth otherwise they never close.

Does anyone have any experience of this after giving birth? Can they still close years after given birth or have I missed that window?

Thank you all in advance.

They can still close years after birth. I've used MUTU after two pregnancies and it was great. Recommended by my nhs physio. Ask for a referral to physio from GP. I did some exercises and it closed a bit just from that. I then saw private physio as only had 2 sessions on nhs. Mutu was great though

@Bigtoejoe I'm not sure how they measure it but laying flat its just about 3 fingers but standing up it is 1 finger.

Following as I had mine diagnosed last month after 12 years - gap is over 4 cm and doc recommended try exercise first but sometimes only surgery can sort

@Dayandnight90 I have tried many post natal and core programmes specifically for diastasis recti.
To be honest they didn’t really work.

I kind of gave up being careful and tailoring things to my diastasis, and for the last year I have been doing weights and Kayla itsines programmes through her sweat app.
I give sit ups a miss but I do planks and leg raises etc. my rule is, if my stomach bulges or my back hurts, I stop. Otherwise I just do what I want.

The gap is still there, 2-3fingers wide but my stomach is much more toned, my posture is better, my back doesn’t hurt and my tummy doesn’t flop out any more.

It was about 5-6 fingers wide before. I went to a plastic surgeon who could get his whole fist into my abdomen through the gap.

I had great success with Mutu, still use it three pregnancies on. Do see a proper women’s physio too.

Katie Bowman has a book on DR too, check that out.

I found I had to see a physio for hands on help despite mutu being helpful as well - the problem with online exercises for me was I was never 100% sure if I was engaging my core or doing the exercises correctly and the physio really helped me to identify what was and wasn't right. I've a tendency to shift positions and let over muscles take over from the core, because it's easier for my back or legs to do the work as core is so weak. So if online exercises don't work maybe try a few sessions face to face. Planks are not supposed to be good for DR so physio can also tell you what exercises to avoid