Women have it, men may have it, and pregnant mothers definitely have it! What exactly is this line?

Audit expert: Wang Linyu

Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Orthopedics, Second Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

I don’t know if you have ever noticed that there is a vertical line in the middle of the belly, the color is dark or light, and it is more obvious in some people but not so obvious in others.

Sometimes I can't help but wonder if the cesarean section doctor used too much force when taking us out of our mother's belly and accidentally cut our belly, leaving such a mark? Could it be that it is the same as when you open a package and use too much force to scratch it?

Source: Internet

But then you suddenly discover an astonishing fact: babies born naturally will also have this vertical line when they grow up. So...what is this mark that is neither deep nor shallow?

Linea alba and midline

In fact, this line is related to the linea alba. The linea alba is formed by the transverse abdominal aponeurosis and the internal and external oblique muscles on both sides of the body. The actual length of this line is about 31cm long and 1cm wide, almost running through the entire abdomen.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

After being covered by the skin, this line often appears light brown instead of white due to the effect of pigment. At this time, this line is called the midline.

Source: pexels.com

Many people will see this line directly, and as they get older, this line will gradually become more obvious, but girls can see it more often than boys. According to statistics, only 11.7% of boys have a midline. But even if this line is not obvious in adolescence, it is still very likely to be seen after pregnancy. However, at that time, not only will girls have the title of "mother", but this midline will also be renamed, generally called the linea gravidarum.

After pregnancy, the hormone level in the body increases, the secretion of estrogen and progesterone increases, and melanocytes will produce stimulating hormone (MSH), which leads to an increase in melanin. Pigmentation will appear in many parts of the body, and the linea alba is naturally not immune. As the gestational age increases, its color may deepen, and some will eventually become a black pregnancy line. But don't worry too much, this pregnancy line will usually disappear automatically about a year after the baby is born.

What is the function of the linea alba?

>>>>Pull the muscles together

The "8-pack abs" we usually refer to are pulled together by the linea alba, which acts like a "zipper". When a woman becomes pregnant, as her belly continues to grow, the linea alba will gradually be pulled apart, resulting in rectus abdominis separation. In addition, most people who often suffer from low back pain and a big belly also suffer from rectus abdominis separation. This is because when the degree of rectus abdominis separation is large, the strength of the waist and abdominal muscles will also weaken accordingly, resulting in less support for the trunk. When the rectus abdominis separation is severe, it may cause organs to move downward, such as gastroptosis, and be accompanied by digestive system symptoms such as indigestion.

Abdominal muscles source | Baidu Encyclopedia

Convenient for incision. Subcutaneous blood vessels are usually distributed parallel to both sides of the midline of the abdomen, and rarely cross on the opposite side. Therefore, if the skin and subcutaneous tissue are directly incised along this line, the amount of bleeding will naturally be small. In short, it is convenient for doctors to incise. Doctors will not cut off the line and cause damage to the rectus abdominis muscle.

What are “AB line”, “waistline” and “mermaid line”?

Some people think that the linea alba is not good-looking and always wonder how to eliminate it. But do you know that the "AB line" popular among fitness people, that is, the concave line in the abdomen is actually the midline of the abdomen!

When the body increases the volume of the muscles on both sides of the midline through fitness, the midline will appear to be sunken. The reason why the "AB" line is regarded as the darling of the fitness world is that it is more difficult to train the AB line than the vest line. If you are born without a clear midline, you must gather eight abdominal muscles to barely summon the "AB" line. If you happen to have a midline, can't you pretend to be an "AB" line?

Source: pexels

Next, let's introduce the vest line and mermaid line. The vest line is the line formed between the rectus abdominis and the external oblique muscles. Because it looks like a "vest", it is called the "vest line". The mermaid line refers to the two lines on both sides of the male abdomen near the top of the pelvis that form a V shape. Because it looks like the lower part of a fish, it is called the mermaid line. The vest line and mermaid line are usually considered indicators of sexiness and beauty.

Source: pixabay

After seeing so many chocolate-like 8-pack abs, do you think: If you were born with not only a midline but also 8-pack abs, what a beautiful thing that would be~