Keyhole Surgery for Diastasis Recti
This week, I visited surgeon Mr Ahmed Ahmed at the Cromwell Hospital, London. Mr Ahmed specialises in bariatric surgery (and, yes, he confirmed there is less of it since the GLP1 antagonists, although his NHS waiting list remains two years). Mr Ahmed also offers keyhole diastasis recti surgery (a DR is the unnatural separation of your abdomen), something that most people do not even know exists! Due to the low level of knowledge of this keyhole surgery, he only performs about 20 DR surgeries a year.
Most of Mr Ahmed’s patients are male weightlifters. Male weightlifters get DR from putting too much stress into their cores and can develop both hernias and DR. Less women use keyhole surgery as they often want skin removed along with DR closure- which means seeing a plastic surgeon and incurring a large scar. However, there are many people with, for example, upper diastasis rectis after tummy tucks or gall bladder surgery who could also really benefit. He can operate on anyone with a six finger gap or below. And with keyhole surgery, there is no risk of seromas (a painful condition that is common after tummy tucks) or the scar not closing.
You will likely need to fight to have your insurer pay for DR surgery, but you can try. It is also a fight on many national health services (which is interesting, given that golfing injuries and injuries sustained when drunk are covered!).
An appointment with Mr Ahmed costs approximately £275. You will then require an ultrasound of your abdomen at approximately £800. Surgery is approximately £12,000 and includes one night’s stay in hospital. He does use non-dissolvable mesh in surgery, as he believes this helps to prevent the diastsis reoccurring. You end up with three small scars on your abdomen. This is a painful surgery (sorry!), so you will need time off work and must avoid lifting. Running at two weeks is allowed. Full exercise at two months. You will wear a compression garment for six weeks. Hernias can also be repaired.
There is always a risk of the DR reoccurring.
If you are in another country, there is likely a surgeon in your country offering keyhole diastasis surgery. Keyhole DR surgery is a fantastic option if you do not require excess skin removal.