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Post by sopranogi on Dec 26, 2010 14:32:06 GMT -5
It has been 8 weeks since my second c-section and my Diastasis Recti (seperation of the abdominal wall) is so bad, that I am having serious trouble singing. Has anyone else had to deal with this? I'm looking at surgery to bring it back together. Has that helped anyone else?
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Post by carinsop on Jan 10, 2011 16:29:05 GMT -5
Yes, I had it but didn't do anything about it for a year. Once I saw a women's physical therapist, it closed up in about 10 days. No joke! She said she had never seen such fast healing, but still, I'm telling you, it can be done!
You need to strengthen the tranverse abdominus to bring the muscles back together, and a good physical therapist will be able to help you in this process. Definitely try physical therapy before surgery!
Ask your OB for a recommendation for a physical therapist who does work with female problems (incontinence, etc.). You can also try apta.org to find one near you.
Best of luck. Let me know if you have any other questions.
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Post by thisisGrain on Jul 18, 2011 2:55:10 GMT -5
Hi Sopranogi,
I'm a singer songwriter from Holland (graduated from conservatory) and I can not find a companian either. Until I finally found your post here! I have diastasis recti too (about two fingers and maybe more around the belly button), it occured during pregnancy and got worse after the delivery (in october 2010) which ended in a c section (after two hours of pushing). I have serious problems with singing, I even get hoarse from it now because it is impossible to relax the muscles around the larynx while singing, when you are not able to apply breath support. I have a lot of back pain and pelvic pain too, and my belly looks like I'm still 5 months pregnant.
According to my physician I can not do sit ups and exercises like that, because that will make the diastasis worse. But almost 9 months after my (lovely and beautiful!!;-) son was born, I do not know what to do. So I went to see my family dr. again and after a lot of pushing I finally got a reference to a specialist.
I am going to see a cosmetic surgean for this in August. I really hope that this is going to be ok in any way, because I get very depressed when I can not sing (and move) like I always did. It's my life and my job.
Have you already taken any steps and how are you nowadays?
I hope that you will read this, let me know if you want my email address so we can stay in touch..
love,
Grain
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Post by consuelita30 on Nov 10, 2011 14:00:46 GMT -5
Hi,
I have a five month old and have been SUFFERING through my first gigs! I feel like I have no control over my body and my voice feels hoarse (a problem I never had before baby) and strained at the end of a rehearsal, gig, day of teaching...
I am so glad someone brought this up. I never heard about this specific problem before. I just finished my DMA and noone mentioned the words, "Abdominal separation," or "Diastasis recti." I want to write an article about this and would love to hear your stories.
Juanita
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Post by sopranogi on Jan 11, 2012 16:12:20 GMT -5
Thank you for your replies!
After months of being on the waiting list, I'm finally scheduled for surgery in March. It's been over a year since my daughter's birth and my Diastasis Recti wont close any further. I've been doing CrossFit and have lost 65lbs. My abs are a ton stronger (I can actually sit up to get out of bed now), but I can still fit my entire hand into my stomach between the muscles. I'm continually throwing my back out because I have no core strength. And although I've adapted my technique, I still struggle to keep my pitch from lagging and my phrasing is just awful from lack of breath support.
It's been almost five years since I have had a solid stomach. My son was 10 lbs and I had an emergency C-section after 3 hours of pushing in 2007. That is when all of this started. I knew something was wrong, but no one could tell me what it was. I started having trouble at work because I was singing flat. I couldn't understand how that could be, because it was never a problem before and I was using the same technique. Then after my daughter was born in 2010, it was obvious that something was seriously wrong. She was less than 8 lbs, but my stomach was twice as big. I found out that it was because the Diastasis Recti was so big, that my entire uterus just hung out the front (I know, it sounds disgusting). After doing a lot of research on my own, I learned more about Diastasis Recti, what exercises you can do to close it back up (if it can be closed) and started working on adapting my singing technique so that I could at least keep the pitch up (all be it at a sacrifice of phrasing).
I guess that I'm going to have to learn how to sing all over again after my surgery, but I can't wait! It's so hard to explain what it is like to try to use a muscle that just isn't there anymore. I can't wait to have it back :-) Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
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Post by sopranogi on Jan 11, 2012 16:15:43 GMT -5
Hi Sopranogi, I'm a singer songwriter from Holland (graduated from conservatory) and I can not find a companian either. Until I finally found your post here! I have diastasis recti too (about two fingers and maybe more around the belly button), it occured during pregnancy and got worse after the delivery (in october 2010) which ended in a c section (after two hours of pushing). I have serious problems with singing, I even get hoarse from it now because it is impossible to relax the muscles around the larynx while singing, when you are not able to apply breath support. I have a lot of back pain and pelvic pain too, and my belly looks like I'm still 5 months pregnant. According to my physician I can not do sit ups and exercises like that, because that will make the diastasis worse. But almost 9 months after my (lovely and beautiful!!;-) son was born, I do not know what to do. So I went to see my family dr. again and after a lot of pushing I finally got a reference to a specialist. I am going to see a cosmetic surgean for this in August. I really hope that this is going to be ok in any way, because I get very depressed when I can not sing (and move) like I always did. It's my life and my job. Have you already taken any steps and how are you nowadays? I hope that you will read this, let me know if you want my email address so we can stay in touch.. love, Grain Grain, I would love to talk. Please contact me :-) Sopranogi@gmail.com |
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Post by Finallyfree on Feb 3, 2012 18:49:58 GMT -5
Hello every one I am 5ft even and 180 lbs. (wow!) I had my son almost 3 years ago, and about 6 months to a year later I noticed that no matter what type of shirt I would wear, my stomach was always bulging ( i looked literally 7 months prego). Just recently my Gy finally told me that I do have Diastasis, but because I'm a Google symptoms type of person I had already diagnosed myself (lol) I came across a website )The Tupler Technique from Julie Tupler). She specializes in Diastasis and she also is the only person who has come up with a technique to heal (not cover) diastasis recti. I recently just ordered the splint package from her website about three weeks ago, and I have to say The Tupler Teqnuiqe really is working I do see a difference in everything! I do not work for the company, i just understand the feeling of your stomach filling and looking like your organs are spilling out. Please go check out The Tupler Technuqe.
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Post by sopranogi on Feb 6, 2012 12:36:03 GMT -5
Thanks for your input! I've tried all of the techniques to close it, but it is too big. I can still fit my entire hand between my muscles. I'm glad that the Tupler Technique is working for you :-)
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Post by Anna on Feb 8, 2017 4:21:17 GMT -5
It has been 8 weeks since my second c-section and my Diastasis Recti (seperation of the abdominal wall) is so bad, that I am having serious trouble singing. Has anyone else had to deal with this? I'm looking at surgery to bring it back together. Has that helped anyone else? Please can we have an update on how you're doing since the op? I'm an actress and have been hoarse for 3 years, I've been on anti acidity tablets for 18 months. I'm hoping the split in my stomach is the reason so I can work on getting it better. I had 2 big babies close together. It's so stressful going into a show with no voice and I have to use 3 times the muscle effort to speak and sing. How Are you doing now? Thanks, Anna xx |
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Post by Lorraine on Mar 20, 2019 18:16:09 GMT -5
Hello, ladies! I'm suffering from the same issue. I have a diastasis recti that's about four finger widths after giving birth to two kids. And my voice isn't working properly, especially my head voice. I don't sing professionally but I've always sung in choirs etc and not being able to sing (to myself or my kids) makes me very sad every single day.
It's been this way since my first child was born 5 years ago, and I only *just* made the connection between the DR and my voice. I do think the problems are connected!
I've done physical therapy for my DR but it's not helping a ton. I'm considering getting surgery. For any of you who've had DR and vocal problems, have you managed to improve them? If you had surgery for DR, did it help your voice?
Would LOVE to hear. Thank you!!
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Post by Heather on Mar 25, 2019 20:15:18 GMT -5
Hi everyone, I'm curious to know Sopranogi and anyone else who had the surgery if it helped. I don't sing especially well, but I work in broadcasting, and I have the same problem. I developed diastasis after abdominal surgery three years ago. Physiotherapy didn't do a thing, so I stopped, seeing no reason to continue. But now my diastasis is MUCH worse...several fingers wide all the way up, and I have real problems with hoarsness. I'm looking at surgery but wanting to get a sense of what to expect. I'm especially wondering how active you can be afterwards at things like yoga and weight training. Will I need to spend the rest of my life being super careful not to "split at the seems" again?
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Post by Thomas Messina on Mar 24, 2022 23:52:45 GMT -5
I'm a man, I got DR when trying to remove very heavy speakers high on a wall while standing on top of a ladder. I had to use all my strength to lift and balance the speaker on my shoulder and climb down the ladder. In the process I had to twist my body when the weight shifted, that's when it happened. I've been in a few Bands over the years and enjoy singing. I've also had acid reflux before this happened, but it got worse after the DR occurred. I try to moderate my diet but still I'm eating way too many medications Nexium and other over the counter remedies, I tried to wean myself off them and wound up with polyps on my Vocal cords from the irritation. The polyps have since been removed, every once in a while the scar tissue gets irritated from acid reflux the tissue swells turning the scar temporarily into nodules. I couldn't get my vocal folds to make good contact, I had to cancel a bunch of performance dates and got some help from a vocal therapist. I'm singing again but have lost about 10 to 20 percent of my upper range. I can deal with that, I had to lower many songs down a whole step. I'm still working on the breathing problem. I am doing some Yoga exorcises specific for core strengthening for persons with DR, it has help quite a bit. Still I run out of air, my voice flutters when trying to hold a note. As Grain above said "I even get hoarse from it now because it is impossible to relax the muscles around the larynx while singing, when you are not able to apply breath support. I have a lot of back pain......." Those Yoga exorcises I did will take care of the back pain but I know what Grain means when she say's it's impossible to "relax the larynx " It's trial and error I'm constantly trying to breath better using my diaphragm and find ways to control exhaling to put less strain on my larynx, it's a real struggle, it used to be so effortless now I'm always thinking, I have to make adjustments, too much air and it wants to rush out and I go flat or sharp, sometimes I change how I'm approaching a note, slide into it from under or come down to it from above. Everything is tight in my throat, invariably I tighten muscles around my vocal folds, so I adjust, maybe I take in less air and have to get a quick gasp of air some where else, maybe I don't sustain a note for as long as I would want. Some vowels and consonants are more problematic than others. My voice will never be what it was, I won't sing as often as I once did. For me at this age, (I'm now retired) I still can do a show a week and that's all I need for my own personal satisfaction, it gives me something to always be working towards, luckily it's never been my livelihood. Everyday I'm trying to learn how to compensate for what was once natural, my voice is different, I manipulate, experiment, make small adjustments and keep trying new ways of approaching a song. I'm doing it and so will you. Accept the fact your anatomy changed, your voice changed, take baby steps, be patient all is not lost, it's difficult but you will overcome and find some satisfying middle-ground, you might not be at your best, you might not be great but you still can be good. Best luck to all.
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Post by Thomas Messina on Mar 25, 2022 0:06:58 GMT -5
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Post by Don on Nov 20, 2023 10:44:46 GMT -5
I sure do. Im wondering if anyone has had the surgery and have any comments regarding it? Was it effective and how was the recovery? Any long term pain from scar tissue long after healed from the surgery?
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