English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Pregnancy creates a radical change in a woman’s life. The physical, hormonal, and psychosocial changes during pregnancy affect the quality of life in post pregnancy phase. Diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) is one of the most common problems seen in post-partum period. DRA is a separation between two bellies of the rectus abdominis muscle connected by the linea alba. A significant DRA, if left untreated at the right time can lead to delirious complications. Prior researches have shown that diastasis recti abdominis is a very common condition seen in the post-partum period. Previous studies have shown that DRA can be reduced with help of an abdominal binder but have very less recorded data. Fewer studies have been conducted showing the combined effect of use of abdominal binder with core strengthening exercises in reduction of DRA. The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of a conventional abdominal binder on diastasis recti abdominis in post-partum women and determine the effect of a conventional abdominal binder on diastasis recti abdominis in post-partum women. METHODS This experimental study included 9 post-partum women with significant DRA. Their age ranged from 25 - 30 years, body mass index (BMI) less than 40 kg/m2. The outcome measures included DRA, lumbar lordosis measurement, low back pain and disability in post-partum period. The subjects were instructed to use an abdominal binder and were taught core strengthening exercises up to 3 months post-partum. RESULTS The obtained results show that there is statistically significant reduction in DRA after use of conventional abdominal binder and exercises. The before treatment values for mean and standard deviation at, above and below umbilicus were 59.39 ± 14.24, 51.87 ± 12.37, 38.15 ± 12.13 respectively which reduced to 41.19 ± 12.21, 37.76 ± 12.98, 30.76 ± 8.94 respectively after using conventional binder with exercises for 3 months. The P value at all three levels of measurements namely - at, above and below umbilicus was < 0.0001 which is statistically considered to be extremely significant. The study duration was of 3 months. CONCLUSIONS The findings conclude that the mean value of DRA decreases with the help of abdominal binder and core strengthening exercise regime. Hence, the abdominal binder and core strengthening exercises were effective in reducing the DRA. KEY WORDS Abdominal Binder, Diastasis Recti Abdominis, Rectus Abdominis, Core Strengthening, Post-Partum