>Julia wrote- >And my abdominal >muscles separated down the middle, and it may be as long as a year before >they're totally joined up again; exercise will help with that. > >(snip) > >Oh, and I *am* losing some of what's left of my belly -- more skin is >sagging at the bottom of it than was a couple of weeks ago. (The skin >sagging doesn't bother me, the separated muscles does.)
Glad everyone is doing well and you are healing! Believe it or not, the separation of the abdominals is more common than people would think. Not really my area of expertise but I can give you a "for example". If a woman has had a child (or more) and lies on her back, we look for integrity by sliding fingers down into the abdominal line where you probably feel a groove. In many cases women have at least a "one knuckle" depth in that area (that can't be visualized). It isn't painful, but it is kinda funky to see more than 2 knuckles deep like a friend of mine had. I figured I could send this just to Julia, but sounds like we are having a baby boom, where some guys might not suspect/know how compromised muscles can get. Can't recall the exact stats, but figure the abdominals are stretched something like 7 times normal (and yet by some miracle can still produce force to birth a baby in most cases.) Some people need things "beyond Kegels", with core strengthening/lumbopelvic stabilization. This is a PT websitew from the Womens Health section of the American Physical Therapy Association. Might take some work from the "Locate a therapist", but it might find you someone who focuses on this in your area. http://www.womenshealthapta.org/ Don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, but the section was started by Elizabeth Noble, who also has a number of books, IIRC. Dee _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
