Steady your stomach, folks. TikTok users have been left gobsmacked after a surgeon shared a video of his hands disappearing into a woman’s stomach.
He went on to say he could feel her aorta - the main artery that carries blood away from your heart to the rest of the body - going ‘boom, boom, boom’.
You can watch the mind-boggling video below:
Dr Clayton L Moliver, MD, 63, from Houston, Texas, US (@docmoliver) was working with a patient whose stomach muscles had separated during pregnancy - diastasis rectus, to give it its proper name.
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This is actually more common than you might think post-partum, and can cause new parents’ bellies to stick out months or years after giving birth.
The good doctor planned on giving his unnamed patient a tummy tuck, but before he did he decided to show the world just how far his hand could disappear into her stomach.
Speaking in the video, he said: “This 34-year-old gal, mother-of-three, aged five, three and one comes in. Tummy looks great. When she stands up she’s got a lot of loose skin and we’re going to do a tummy tuck on her.
“But she wanted to show me her diastasis rectus, and I had to show you all because it’s pretty cool.”
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After instructing the women to do a crunch, he went on: “Here’s the fun part - I can put my fingers right in between her muscles and feel her aorta down there. Boom, boom, boom.”
TikTok viewers were stunned by the video, with one describing the effect as 'forbidden hot dog bread'.
Explaining more about diastasis rectus, Dr Clayton said: “It can affect men and women after massive weight gain, although it's overwhelmingly found in women during or after pregnancy.
"Diastasis rectus is the separating of the midline muscles of the tummy wall and specifically, there's a line of fascia called the linea alba.
"It's this structure that gets stretched wider than normal, which is typically less than 2cm, and it happens during or after pregnancy.
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"It can burn, throb or hurt intermittently depending on the person's weight status and general condition – as well as cause bulging of the abdomen.
"It can sometimes be corrected with physical therapy, such as abdominal wall exercises and that's the best option.
"If it doesn't work after three to six months, then a surgery to repair the midline can be performed.”
To stop this happening to you, Dr Clayton recommends consistent exercise, watching your weight and core strengthening exercises.
Simon Fearn