Diastasis Recti Therapy in Hollywood, FL
The size of the gap matters far less than what your midline does under pressure, and that is the part therapy can change.
What is diastasis recti therapy?
Diastasis recti is a widening of the connective tissue that runs between the two halves of the rectus abdominis, so the midline stretches and stops transmitting load the way it should. Pregnancy is the most common reason, though weight changes, genetics and years of one movement pattern all contribute. You see it as a bulge, or a ridge that domes up when you sit forward. You feel it as a core that will not hold: back and hip ache, poor balance under load, trouble lifting, and often bladder or bowel symptoms, because the abdominal wall and the pelvic floor share one pressure system. It is not a hernia. Nothing is protruding through the tissue. Therapy restores how that system manages pressure, rather than chasing a measurement closed.
Which means the work starts above the abdominals. Your therapist assesses how you breathe, where pressure travels when you exert yourself, what the pelvic floor is doing underneath, and how the midline behaves during real tasks rather than only lying on a mat. From there: deep core activation to get the deeper abdominal layer firing again, breath and pressure training so effort stops pushing everything forward, posture and movement coaching for lifting and carrying, manual therapy for restricted tissue and cesarean scar, and pelvic floor rehabilitation wherever bladder, bowel or sexual symptoms are part of the picture. Your therapist will coordinate with your OB-GYN when that helps.
Who it's for.
This suits anyone whose midline is not holding, whether the baby is four months old or fourteen years old. There is no window that closes, and no physician referral is needed to start in Florida. Three situations that bring people in.
Cleared at six weeks, still not right
You were told everything looked fine and you could resume normal activity. Then the bulge stayed, your back started aching by mid-afternoon, and lifting a car seat became a whole event. Cleared is not the same as recovered. An assessment here looks at pressure and coordination during actual movement, which is what a six-week check has no time to do.
Workouts that make the bulge worse
Crunches, planks and running that leave the midline doming further out than when you started. That is a pressure management problem, and repeating the same exercises harder reinforces it rather than fixing it. We rebuild in the order your abdominal wall can handle, then load it deliberately, so you can go back to the training you actually enjoy.
Leaking or heaviness alongside the gap
The pelvic floor sits at the bottom of the same pressure system, so a midline that cannot hold often arrives with bladder leaks, urgency, constipation, a dragging heaviness, or pain with sex. Treating the abdominal wall on its own tends to stall in those cases. Treating both together is usually what makes either one hold.
What to expect in Hollywood.
Visits are 30 to 60 minutes, one on one, in a private room, and you are welcome to bring your partner or a friend to the first one. Coverage and payment are handled individually, so call (954) 842-3825 and ask for Ronda: she will tell you what your visits will cost before you book anything.
Assessment of the whole pressure system
Your therapist measures the midline at several points, then watches what it does while you breathe, lift, roll and sit up. Posture, rib mobility, hip strength and pelvic floor function all get checked, because between them they decide where pressure goes. You hear what was found and what it means before you leave.
Breath, deep core, then load
Early sessions are quieter than most people expect: breathing patterns, deep abdominal activation, pelvic floor coordination, and manual work on tight tissue or scar. Once the system holds under low demand, the exercises get heavier on purpose, because a core that only works lying on a mat is not much use on a Tuesday.
Back to lifting, carrying and training
The last stretch is real life: a toddler on one hip, a full grocery run, the gym, a whole day on your feet. You leave with a home program you can keep doing, and with the ability to spot the doming or the heaviness early and adjust before it turns into a flare.
Diastasis recti therapy is conservative care, not a surgical repair, and it does not promise a particular measurement. Tell your therapist if you have an unhealed cesarean or abdominal incision, a known umbilical or ventral hernia, a diagnosed prolapse, or a bulge that is tender, firm, or will not settle when you lie down. A painful bulge that stays put needs a physician's assessment before anyone loads the abdominal wall, and your therapist will say so rather than work around it.
I cannot say enough amazing things about Dr. Leslie! She has truly changed my life. From the very first visit, she was professional, kind, and extremely knowledgeable.
Where to go next.
Pelvic Floor Therapy
Internal and external work to retrain muscles you were never taught to feel.
C-Section Recovery
Scar mobility, core reconnection and the numb shelf nobody warned you about.
Postpartum Recovery
Six weeks and cleared is not the same as recovered. This is the rest of it.