rectom and diastasis recti

Hi Queenbean

Wholewoman posture (the one critical ingredient in the recipe for managing POP without surgery) stretches the rectus abdominus muscles out as you lift your chest, and allows the transverse abdominus and internal and external oblique muscles to act as a bouncy, resilient hammock for the abdomen.

If you hold a rubber band by its ends, not stretched out, the two halves of the rubber band will separate easily and not come back together. If you stretch the rubber band even slightly by moving the two ends further apart, the two halves of the rubber band are quite hard to separate, and come back together readily (boing!) if you do separate them.

Holding the two ends of the rubber band apart further is the equivalent of lifting your chest, and this will bring the two halves of your diastasis together again. Go gently and consistently with the exercises and you will build up the strength of all your abdominal muscles, and your whole body, for that matter. You might not notice the difference week by week, but you will find that it will fix itself with the proper posture, and one day you will wake up and realise that you have not noticed the diastasis for a couple of weeks.

It is really the deeper muscles, the transverse abdominus and the oblique groups that are weak, and not supporting your guts effectively. The rectus abdominus muscles are really only for bending into a U shape and straightening up again. They do not have horizontal fibres necessary for contracting your waist. Only the TA and obliques can do this. If the RA are too strong they will probably become too rigid and your guts will squash through the gap. If they are more springy and looser they will expand more lengthwise, and not squash the contents of the abdomen, and not split down the middle.

You really need to stretch yourself up, and open your chest when you are standing or sitting. Try sticking your butt out, relaxing your belly and bending from the hips when you cough. this will flop your colon forwards so it is more horizontal when you cough. That way it will not be pushed down into your vulva so much.

What is all the coughing from, Queenbean?

OK, steam inhalations twice a day. Analgesic before bedtime, and again during the night if you have to, so you can sleep and not wake up coughing ever hour or so. Also have an inhalation when you get up at 3am for more analgesic. Humidifier in your bedroom at night.

*Breathe in only through your nose*, especially when outside in the cold if you are in the northern hemisphere. Your nose is designed to warm the air and remove dust and irritants, and germs too. Your throat is not, and it will *not* be appreciating all the cold air you breathe in through it before *every* cough. When you breathe out, leave a little air in your lungs. This will mean that you don't breathe in as much. We don't actually need all the oxygen we breathe in. It is called hyperventilation. We do need to leave some carbon dioxide in our lungs because it is needed to move the oxygen from the bloodstream into our organs. Less cold air in means less coughing. If your nose is too blocked to breathe in through, breathe in through it anyway. You will eventually go almost into panic. It makes me go warm and tingly halfway up my back. Adrenalin is produced when we panic. Adrenalin dilates all the passages in our body. Your nose will clear a bit, enough for you to breathe. You will have to concentrate hard to do this, and not give in to the temptation to just go back to breathing in through your mouth. do it as much as possible. All this paragraph may not mean much to you. Google 'Buteyko asthma' to find out why.

Good luck.

Louise