Can Diastasis Recti Be Fixed Years Later?
Short answer: yes. Doesn't matter if your youngest is six months old or sixteen years old — if that gap down your midline is still there, it's still treatable. What doesn't work is more crunches and hoping it closes on its own.
What Diastasis Recti Actually Is
Diastasis recti is a separation of the two sides of your rectus abdominis — your “six-pack” muscle — along the connective tissue running down the middle. It happens to almost every woman by the third trimester. Pregnancy stretches that tissue on purpose, so your body has room to grow a baby. You're not “abnormal” for having it at nine months pregnant. The problem shows up when that tissue never fully knits back together after birth, and you're left with a gap, a dome, or a core that just doesn't feel like it's working right anymore.
The Doming Is Trying to Tell You Something
If your stomach cones or domes when you sit up, cough, or do a crunch, that's not just how your body looks now — it's a sign your deep core isn't managing pressure correctly. Push through it with more ab workouts and you can genuinely make the separation worse, not better.
Why “Just Do More Core Work” Is the Wrong Advice
| The Old Way | The MVMT Way |
|---|---|
| More crunches and planks | Retrain deep core activation before loading it |
| It's cosmetic — just tone up | It's a function issue — affects your back, pelvic floor, and posture |
| Nothing to do about it years later | Treatable at any point postpartum, even a decade out |
How Tia and Erica Actually Treat It
Tia Jackson, MS, LAT, ATC and Dr. Erica Folker, PT, DPT, LAT, ATC both treat diastasis recti and postpartum core issues at MVMT — it's not a side note for either of them, it's a primary focus. Your evaluation starts with measuring the actual gap, then testing how your deep core, pelvic floor, and breathing are working together, or not. From there, the plan usually includes breathing and core activation drills, manual therapy where it's needed, and a progressive return to real strength training — squats, deadlifts, whatever you're trying to get back to — built around where your core actually is today, not where it was before kids.
How Long Does It Actually Take?
Most clients see real improvement in 6 to 10 sessions. A gap that's been there for a decade takes a little more patience than one from six months ago, but longstanding doesn't mean permanent.
You Don't Need a Referral
Wisconsin has direct access to PT, so you can book with MVMT without seeing a doctor first. Want us looped in with your OB? Happy to. Just not required to get started.
It's Not Too Late
“I always felt like I missed that ‘time’ to repair myself after having a child, until I spoke to Erica. She said absolutely not, it’s never too late.”
Katie first connected with MVMT three years postpartum, believing she had missed her window to address the changes she was experiencing after having a child. After working with Tia, she learned more about her body, addressed her concerns, and began feeling better both in and outside of the gym. She shared that she was able to return to activities she had previously struggled with and go about her everyday life with little to zero pain.
Her experience is a reminder that you don't have to be newly postpartum to seek support. Whether you're months, years, or even a decade postpartum, it's never too late to start working toward a stronger, more functional core.
— Katie H., MVMT client.
Start with your free phone call right here.