Question: “I’m 56 and took your test. My pelvic floor is healthy. It seems that I can jump on a trampoline with my grandson for ages, like half an hour or longer, with no problems. I didn’t realize that there could be leakage issues. How do I continue to keep my pelvic floor healthy? I want to be able to have fun like this until I’m in my 90’s, provided he still wants to have fun with me!”
Answer from Dr. Daniel Gruber, urogynecologist from Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington D.C., part of John Hopkins medicine.
So, if you’re not having any issues, then that’s obviously a very good thing and I wouldn’t do too much specifically.
However, you definitely can do Kegel exercises. That’s where you squeeze the pelvic floor, starting with short holds where you hold it for a few seconds or even less. Then you can build up to doing longer holds. These exercises can help with different types of muscles and different types of situations, whether you’re jumping on the trampoline or have an overactive bladder. Learn how to do them here.
And simply keeping your pelvis healthy with exercise such as yoga can also help in general. However, if you do start having problems like leaking, a trampoline is obviously a more extreme activity that can exacerbate it. We do see a lot of women who have leakage from jumping or even lighter activity. If that’s the case, then you definitely should seek out care from a urogynecologist.
