Taken from A Girl With A Lot of Gut
"Two years ago my mother started to develop a protrusion in her abdominal area. It was of concern because she had previously had two hernia repairs in that area. She visited the doctor who performed the hernia surgeries. He basically told her she was overweight and if she lost 20 pounds she would be fine. I was not convinced that this would work nor was she. She was advised by her family doctor to get a second opinion. The second doctor told her losing weight would in no way fix her issue, it was not a weight issue. What was happening in my moms abdominal area was a separation if her rictus muscles, also known as diastasis rictus, in combination with a ventral hernia. The only remedy for this type of situation is an abdominal reconstruction with a ventral hernia repair. My mom asked if she could avoid such a major surgery if she did in fact lose 20 pounds. His answer was simply, no.
The most common cause of this condition is pregnancy. My mom had two children. When she became pregnant with me she weighed less than 100lbs., I weighed in at over 8lbs. at birth. 26 months later my brother was born . She lost all of her pregnancy weight but ,as the doctor said ,that was probably when the muscles began to separate.
My mom struggles with her confidence and self esteem and when that doctor told her she was fat and needed to lose 20lbs. it really effected her...."
See the entire article @ A Girl With A Lot of Gut