Erika: All right. Welcome Dr. Kayla to the podcast. We are thrilled to have you here today. Let’s, jump right in. Why don’t you introduce yourself to our community? Tell us everything about yourself, where you live and what you do for work.
Dr. Kayla: Absolutely. So, I’m Dr. Kayla Borchers. I am originally from a rural part of Ohio on the western side. I Came to Columbus for my education at Ohio State. I got my undergrad in exercise science education and then continued for my doctorate in physical therapy. Now I own a private practice here in Columbus, Ohio, where I live with my husband and two small children. I have a three-year-old girl and an 11-month-old little boy.
[00:01:00]Erika: Oh wow. Amazing. So you are, you’re like me. We’re in the thick of it with a baby in toddlerhood. Oh yes. And I wanted to mention, I met Dr. Kayla virtually, I should say, because I threw my back out for the first time ever in my life and you were so sweet. We connected and she offered to help me out, which was amazing and I’m so glad we connected there’s I think there’s. So many things we have to talk about today. And before we jump into all of that, tell us about your career history. You were, in a clinical setting? Where, what sort of, what you’re doing now?
[00:02:00]Dr. Kayla: Yeah, absolutely. So, I started my career working for a large medical system, um, primarily in sports medicine. So, I have a background treating division one athletics as well as professional athletes and then your weekend warriors when I was pregnant with my first child in 2019. I realized we did not get much education in the prenatal and postpartum sphere during school so quickly. I did a deep dive in continuing education courses as a physical therapist into prenatal and postpartum care, how to best support my body and my growing child. So, when I came back from that maternity leave, I became just an internal referral system for other providers who were treating clients who had maybe back pain or some pelvic floor leakage when doing higher levels of activity, such as running or playing tennis. So, I then became the provider to provide physical therapy to these women to get back to the activities that they loved. Fast forward to my pregnancy with my second child in 2021. He was born November 2021 and I was on maternity leave with him and just really felt a tug on my heart to do something different. I was in a very large clinical setting where there were about 40 providers, and so it wasn’t the most relaxed setting to work with people on breath work or stress reduction, to get back to the goals that they enjoy.
[00:03:00]Dr. Kayla: So, I decided to open my own private practice in August of 2022, and that is what I’m doing now. So, I own my own physical therapy and holistic wellness private practice.
Erika: Well, congratulations, that’s incredible and like so soon after you had a baby, so that’s like you had two babies basically.
Dr. Kayla: Literally, I say I had nine months of growing and birthing my son, and then nine months of growing and birthing my business. Like literally it was nine months after I had him that I launched my business.
Erika: Oh my gosh. Well, you are incredible. That’s amazing. And I want to dive into sort of the holistic side of things. Can you, I think that’s like super unique. Um, not, you don’t hear of a lot of physical therapists or chiropractors, going the holistic route. So, tell us what does that mean? What do you offer? And um, yeah, just tell us everything.
[00:04:00]Dr. Kayla: Absolutely. So, when talking with other providers, kind of what sets me apart, what is kind of my niche area, and it is just that, that holistic approach to care. So, when I’m working with a client, I’m not just looking at their area of pain. It’s not just their knee pain or their ankle pain. We’re looking at how everything works together and that’s not just in a physical. So, most physical therapists will look at how everything works together in a physical sense. If they’re not, they should be. What sets me apart is that I don’t only look at the physical, but I’m also looking at what is your emotional wellness? What is your spiritual wellness? What is your quality of sleep like? What’s your nutrition like? What is your toxic load? And so, we can see, especially in patients with chronic pain, that if we have low levels of inflammation from perhaps using some toxic skincare pro products or cleaning solutions in the home, that that really adds up over time.
[00:05:00]Dr. Kayla: So, I have those conversations with patients, full picture to help address their lifestyle wellness because that influences the way the body moves and how the body heals.
Erika: Do you have any, like, off the top of your head, favorite, um, like a line of favorite cleaning products or beauty products that you love and that.
Dr. Kayla: Yeah, so you’ve had her on your podcast, but sustain. You had the founder, Jacqueline Tracy on, I love to use them for cleaning products in terms of like dish brushes, because a lot of the ones that you get from the store are plastic fibers. So, when we’re using warm water, the water, the liquid pulls off those microplastics. So, it’s, you know, one of those little changes. That’s an easy swab to just get a natural fiber bristled cleaning brush to do your dishes with.
Erika: Love that Jacqueline actually sent me one, and that was like the first I learned that you know what I mean? You, when you know better, you do better. And I think that’s so interesting. A lot of people do not know that.
[00:06:00]Dr. Kayla: Mm-hmm. And then a cleaning solution that I use that’s super easy is just a cap full of thieves with and then like my daughter helps me wipe down surfaces all the time. She thinks it’s so fun to go around spraying the little spray bottle. Oh, wiping things down. So, it makes it fun. It incorporates her into cleaning when I’m doing stuff at home. So those are some favorites that I utilize, uh, cleaning product wise. Then skincare I use a variety. But, um, beauty counter has been something that I really like, and I am just slowly switching over to more and more of their products. I’ve used OEA products, crunchy, those are some, some other good brands that I’ve found on my counter right now.
Erika: Yeah. Awesome. I well babe skills are all about clean beauty and Clean LA Egg. So, do you use the mascara? I feel like they’re like famous for that.
Dr. Kayla: And those are some of my favorites as well. Um, I haven’t tried Crunchy yet.
[00:07:00]Dr. Kayla: I have, but I felt like it flicked off more. Oh, good to know. Oh, okay. My, my favorite product of theirs has been their blush and then their foundation. Okay.
Erika: I’ll have to try it. I haven’t tried anything, so I always love to learn, um, new beauty lines and, uh, care for your home. So, you’re kind of. You know, you’re treating the body, yes. But then you’re also consulting on, um, you know, like people’s toxic loads. And then you do, did I see that you also do yoga instruction?
Dr. Kayla: Yeah. That’s something I haven’t mentioned yet. So, I’m actually a certified yoga teacher also. And so, the really fun part about starting my own practice has been having time to teach again. I used to work full-time in a busy physical therapy clinic and then teach classes before or after work in yoga studios around town. So, it was really busy, and you can imagine having children made me slow down and drop the yoga teaching and so since starting my own practice, I have been able to add yoga, teach teaching back on.
[00:08:00]Dr. Kayla: I actually teach anatomy for yoga teacher training. Now, which has been really fun. And then I lead a yoga Pilates Vinyasa class, and then prenatal yoga and some mommy and me classes because I think it’s so important to have community class settings for moms who are postpartum to come with their little what, especially when on maternity leave. That social interaction and ability to move. Without having to get a babysitter has been really cool to offer.
Erika: That is so cool. And so like, I don’t know anybody else that offers that. Yeah.
Dr. Kayla: You know what I mean? I mean there’s of course places where you can like put ’em in a room where kids are, you know, being watched, but then you know, when you have a little baby, you don’t really wanna do that all the time.
Erika: And that’s super cool. So, can anyone come and take a class or are they typically your physical therapy patient?
[00:09:00]Dr. Kayla: Anyone can come. So, the classes are scheduled via seven studios. So that is the fitness studio that I rent space out of in Grandview, Ohio, So, if you’re local to Columbus, it’s right on Grandview Avenue. And those classes are currently in person, I have considered offering digital options. So, if that is something that you’re interested in, I’m sure Erika will add my contact information at the bottom of this podcast and absolutely reach out because. I want to provide services to women that were not available to me when I was on maternity leave. So, for me, when I was on maternity leave with my daughter and my son, I looked for prenatal yoga and there was none and Columbus is a big city. And so being able to offer that now has been really special.
Erika: Oh, I love that. And let’s, let’s also talk about, um, well two things. So, I heard you mention breath work and I am super passionate. I got certified this year as a meditation instructor. Truly delicious, deep in my own practice because I’ve been doing meditation for seven years and, um, I think, you know, now people are really starting to connect the dots [00:10:00] that it’s not a physical body and an emotional, spiritual body like you are all connected, and they all affect one another. So, can maybe you touch on the aspect of like breath work and, um, those.
[00:11:00]Dr. Kayla: Absolutely. So, breath work is something that when we’re doing a physical therapy evaluation, I will assess just by watching you. So, I like to assess without somebody knowing that I’m looking at it because I want to see what they’re doing naturally, at a resting state. Oftentimes we’ll find that people are breathing high into their chest, which is a very stress response type of breathing, and doesn’t allow you to get that parasympathetic rest and digest, which is what you get when you breathe more into the belly. However, we oftentimes see then that people think just about belly breathing and they just get that front expansion through the abdominal. When truly it should be more like a 360-degree breath, so you can think of your core like a can. So, think of a can of sparkling water, and that top is your diaphragm. The bottom is your pelvic floor. The front is your abdominal wall, and then the back are of course, those backside muscles in your spine, and when you breathe in, that whole area should get equal pressure and expand at the same rate. So, you can also think of it like a balloon. A balloon would expand in all directions, right? That’s on the inhale. On the exhale, we should get that recoil where everything, again comes back in at an equal rate that allows for pressure management, and we don’t get the breakdown. Back pain or pelvic floor issues or that abdominal separation like a diastasis. So breathwork has so many components. There is, you know, if we’re looking at a woman who is postpartum, she’s going to have different changes in her body from just having grown a baby. So, there’s different techniques that we can work on to help get the ribcage to come back in, help reduce any abdominal separation.
[00:12:00]Dr. Kayla: Versus, you know, somebody who is a high-level executive who maybe always operates in that fight or flight stress response. We’re gonna be working a lot more on stress reduction type breathings that we can tap into that vagus nerve.
Erika: So interesting. I love all of this, and I’m over here breathing like with your instruction. I hope you guys can’t hear me. Love it. And shifting gears a little bit into, um, postnatal care. So, I was out to dinner with my girlfriends, and we were talking about like how crazy it is that you, I saw, we saw like a meme we were talking about. You know, you go to all these appointments before you have the baby, and then after the baby you have one appointment and it’s essentially to tell you can have sex again. I mean, yes, of course they ask How are you feeling? Had you had any like depressive thoughts? But that’s it. And you just went through a literal trauma, a year of changes, and you just have this one appointment that’s basically for your partner.
[00:13:00]Erika: So, I am super interested. Maybe you can tell us like what are the top three things, um, you should do after you have a baby or that, um, you see people for, and, um, I know diocese recti, is that how you say it? Mm-hmm. is common and sometimes people don’t even know they have it, and then they wanna jump back into exercise. So maybe you can just give us like a little bit about, um, like a, sort of a plan of action after you have a baby to get yourself whole again.
Dr. Kayla: Absolutely. I love this question. So the first thing I would recommend doing, Is scheduling a physical therapy appointment with a pelvic floor physical therapist or somebody who has additional training, such as myself in prenatal and postpartum care, because as I said previously, if you’re getting a traditional orthopedic pt. We don’t get a lot of training in that in school, you have to take additional education to get that prenatal one postpartum support.
[00:14:00]Dr. Kayla: To really meet a woman’s needs in that stage of life. And so find a provider, I can help if you’re local to Columbus. I also do virtual appointments. You can schedule that appointment prior to six weeks. So that’s something not a lot of people are aware of, that you can actually do physical therapy and you can do things to help your body heal before that six-week clearance. So I would do that at the two week mark. Now at two weeks, you are not getting internal pelvic floor examinations by a physical therapist. What we would do is work on breathing. So, as you grow a baby, that rib cage has to move out of the way to allow room for baby to expand and grow. We also can see that abdominal separation for the same reason that as baby grows we need that baby to go somewhere, that space to go somewhere. And so a diastasis recti is extremely common.
[00:15:00]Dr. Kayla: If you’re not sure what that is, that is when the rectus abdominal muscles, those are your six pack muscles right in the front. There’s a fascial layer in between those. And so, what we see is a separation of the muscles and kind of a ding of that fascial layer. Most women, the strong majority have this occur during pregnancy, but some of them just naturally come back together with daily activities just naturally comes back in. Sometimes we need to do specific exercises to help address that and help that heal. So that would be one area I look at. Ribcage angle is another area I would look at that directly ties into that diastasis. If that rib cage is flare, then that’s gonna pull that abdominal muscle apart more so getting the ribcage down and then will help. The rib cage can also affect what you feel when you’re wearing a bra. So, if it’s really tight and you’re noticing that that tension of the bra remains postpartum compared to like your bra size prenatally, it may be because your ribcage angle has expanded.
[00:16:00]Dr. Kayla: Due to baby growing and hasn’t come back in on its own. So, there are some ribcage mobilizations we could do right at that two-week mark. And then we would also do some gentle muscle activation. So literally I took notes myself, you know, on my postpartum journey of things I did each and every week to help myself heal. We want to reconnect with your breath, with your core, with your pelvic floor, and then also your postural muscles. Because if you think about it, either breastfeeding or bottle feeding your baby really pulls you into that rounded shoulder position. And so, there are some very gentle exercises that I have clients do on their belly to help with posture strengthening. And then just any kind of tension headaches that come on from that position too, we, uh, can address that right away.
[00:17:00]Erika: Yeah, holding the baby and like feeding and that’s just like a recipe for, you know, your neck and your shoulders to be in a lot of pain. So another thing we didn’t touch on is, okay, so we’ve talked about the body and your mental health and reducing your toxic glow, but what about nutrition?
Dr. Kayla: Yes. Love it. So, if you are eating a high inflammatory diet, meaning lots of processed foods, that is going to directly carry over into the body’s composition, right, and how that body is able to function and heal. And so, as a physical therapist, I’m not giving a specific nutrition plan, right? I, if somebody needed that, I would send them over to one of my colleagues who’s a nutritionist. I’ve got several who are great, who I recommend clients to. But when I’m discussing with patients is really those overarching recommendations. So especially if somebody is struggling with chronic fatigue or overall inflammation, you know, looking at what kind of seed oils they’re consuming each day. Are they consuming a high inflammatory diet with a lot of processed foods?
[00:18:00]Dr. Kayla: Are they eating out all the time, so they don’t know what kind of oils are going on their foods? So, cleaning that all up whole food recommendations. You know, get your protein from good sources, you know, beef pasture raised poultry. So, um, just being more aware of where their food is coming from, as local as possible and just looking at that from a big picture perspective as well as if they are fasting. So, if they have a long fasting window, but they’re trying to conceive that can disrupt hormone regulation there. So just really having a big picture conversation about what their diet looks like and if there are any recommendations that may help them feel better.
[00:19:00]Erika: Amazing. So I am, I’m two years postpartum with my daughter Camie, and I knew I’d just been feeling like something was off, whether it was my thyroid or I don’t know, hormones. And so, I did a lot of testing I’m working with a, um, a naturopath doctor and a holistic dietician. And sure enough I have, I don’t have Hashimotos or anything, but a sluggish thyroid and my hormones are off a little bit and, um, one of the things before we got my test results back, we were kind of doing this overarching thing as well, and you mentioned the seed oils and uh, they call them pufa oils. The inflammatory oil oils, and I’m normally pretty good. I use avocado oil and olive oil, however, sunflower seed oil and or safflower oil is hidden in so many things that you think are healthy, like, um, pet peas or, um, all the healthy treats that I get my kids um, have the, this horrible sunflower oil and it’s like, okay, in moderation, but I’m thinking I’m doing the right thing by buying all these like healthier snacks. And it’s hidden in so much. So, it’s so interesting, um, how inflammatory that can be, how it’s hidden so many things and how it can affect you. Your thyroid, your hormones, like you said, so if you are trying to conceive, it’s super important that people are looking at these things and being guided.
[00:20:00]Dr. Kayla: Yeah, and just having those conversations because in our regular physician checkups, you know, It’s so short, it’s so quick. And so, a lot of times these things aren’t even touched on. So, are you getting your servings of fruit and vegetables each day? Great. You know, it’s not going into the nitty gritty. And so, for me, I spend an hour with clients working one-on-one a full hour. And so, we have time to delve into these things and a lot of times it’s conversationally. So, as I’m queuing them on an exercise and then having them go through their repetitions. Then we can chat more and more and more layers start to come out that help me understand them as a whole person and how we can really get to the root cause of the symptoms that they’re having versus just putting a band aid on that one location that’s actually hurting.
Erika: That makes so much sense. I feel like I really, I wish I knew of something like someone like you when I was postpartum, but here I am two years later, still putting the pieces together myself. You know what I mean?
[00:21:00]Erika: Like I’ve got the physical part back um, you know, I’ve got the mental health part down, but the, you know, here I am with thyroid and hormonal issues because, you know, so it’s, it would just be amazing to have that support coming out of, um, you nine, almost a year of body changes and then yeah, having a baby and all of those changes. So it was, it’s so cool to hear that you offer this, um, here in Columbus, and like you said, you can even do it virtually to a certain extent.
Dr. Kayla: Right yeah, yeah. This is the kind of care that is available in Europe, like it’s an automatic referral postpartum, and it’s just mind blowing that it’s an automatic referral after knee pain or knee surgery, but not after growing a baby and delivering a baby, you know? So, it’s kind of crazy.
[00:22:00]Erika: Absolutely. Well, I really enjoyed our conversation. Is there anything else you want people to know about you and your business? We’ll put, um, make sure you tell everybody where they can find you online and I’ll put links in the show notes.
Dr. Kayla: Love it. Yeah. The one other thing I’ll mention is just if you have had it on your mind to get help, if something just doesn’t feel right to reach out, to seek out care. A chronic issue leads to a chronic solution, but addressing something quickly, you know, within the first couple of weeks of it bothering you, is going to resolve faster than just letting something carry on for years and years and putting on the back burner. The other thing I’ll say with that is that as women, as mothers, as a lot of us are. It’s easy to put ourselves on the back burner. It’s easy to go get care for our kiddo with an ear infection, right? Versus scheduling that appointment for ourselves. And so, knowing that there’s help out there, knowing that it’s okay to seek out help and to seek out providers who are going to welcome you as you are.
[00:23:00]Dr. Kayla: I allow clients to bring their kiddos with them, so you know, you don’t have to go get a babysitter for your appointment. I do virtual, you know, for some people that works out best. So, it’s just meeting yourself where you are, giving yourself the permission to get the care and the help that you deserve so that you can show up as your best self for your family, because that’s ultimately what, what matters.
Erika: That’s such an amazing point because you can’t pour from an empty cup. You can’t help everybody else if you don’t help yourself. And to your point, um, everybody I’ve had on this season almost touches on the fact that they do feel some sort of guilt for taking time for themselves. However, all everybody has learned to just start and then to know in your mind you don’t have to be perfect, and you don’t have to, you know, just meet yourself where you are and take one step and put it in front of the other and just start. Um, cause sometimes we think if we wanna try a new habit, like [00:24:00]meditation or dry brushing, that if we don’t do it every day, then we fail. So, we’re not even going to start.
[00:24:00]Erika: So, to your point, just reach out, just take that, make that call, have that first appointment. And um, I feel like when you do the rest follows.
Dr. Kayla: Exactly. Exactly. And to not be overwhelmed by it all because a provider such as myself is going to meet you where you are too and make recommendations that are specific for you and not to do this complete lifestyle overhaul if that’s not what’s best for you. So yeah, don’t think that you don’t have the time for it or that it will be overwhelming. You know, a provider really should meet you where you are to make it as simple as possible to make the changes that will help you be your best health.
Erika: Amazing. Well, thanks so much for spending time with us. I’m so glad we finally got to do this. You guys, we’ve been trying to do this for weeks. Um, each of us having complex me, mostly, um, but I’m so glad to have this really important conversation and we’re so lucky to have someone like you here in Columbus.
[00:25:00]
Erika: Thank you, Erica. This has been wonderful.
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