Still hurts to sit up 4 months post c-section

[Daisy453]

C-section mamas - I'm nearly 4 months pp and today I tried using my abdominal muscles to sit up and it was not a good idea as I felt so much strain on my incision. Is this still normal at this stage? I just want to sit up without needing to always use my arms but no such luck yet! I also still feel strain and discomfort when I laugh, cough and sneeze. I've been doing deep core exercises recently to try and rebuild my stomach muscles but I don't see much improvement yet. At this stage it feels like I'll never fully feel normal again!

Hi Daisy, that sounds really tough. I have had a c section and that was not my experience, though it was uncomfortable doing that sort of thing for a while. I think best to contact your GP, and start regular scar massage if you haven’t already. Good luck!

My youngest is a teenager so it was quite a while ago and my memory isn't perfect, but I had two c-sections and don't remember any pain after four months. I think I only remember that kind of pain quite early on. However, my stomach muscles have never been quite the same again, particuarly after my second. I would probably make an appointment just to check.

I didn’t have pain sitting up after the first few days so I would definitely see someone about it.
Years later and I do occasionally have darts of pain across the scar but it’s unrelated to effort and doesn’t stop me doing anything so I don’t think it’s what you describe.

It could be that your stomach muscles have stayed parted since being pregnant. It does have a fancy name but can't remember it. Mind parted and didn't come back together properly so I had to see a specialist physio for special exercises. They've improved now but still parted by about an inch
Diastatis recti is its name
You'll know if you have it as if you lie flat tense your muscles and see how many fingers you can fit between the two sides of your and. Shouldn't really be more than two, mine is now at about a 1 and dd2 is now 4 but after birth the midwife could fit her whole fist between them 😂
However best get your scar checked too

Thanks everyone, I actually have a GP appointment tomorrow so will ask. I've seen two women's physio's who have said I don't have diastasis recti so it's not that although I do feel my core is extremely weak compared to what it used to be. I've been getting some treatment on my scar already as it's always felt very tight so hopefully over time this will help. Every doctor/midwife and physio I've seen have said my scar is healing beautifully from the outside aswell. I do feel as though i drew the short straw with recovery though as no one else I speak to seems to remember having these issues for so long 😩