Back in Line

Dr. Christopher Mosier

Welcome to Back in Line with Dr. Mosier—the show where chiropractic meets real life. I'm your host, Dr. Mosier, alongside my amazing wife and cohost, Ellen. Together, we dive into the aches, pains, and postures of everyday living—unpacking spinal health, lifestyle habits, and the little things that throw us out of line (literally and figuratively). Whether you're battling back pain or just trying to keep up with your kids, this podcast is your go-to for practical advice, expert insights, and a few laughs along the way. Is your health in line—or falling behind? Let’s get you Back in Line.

  1. 🔧 Maintenance Care: Why Health Is Something You Keep, Not Just Get

    1D AGO

    🔧 Maintenance Care: Why Health Is Something You Keep, Not Just Get

    💔 When There Was No Hope When Ellen and I were dating at Hanover College, her migraines were relentless. They weren’t occasional; they were frequent, debilitating, and emotionally draining. We did what most people do. We went to a neurologist. An MRI was done. And the conclusion? “Nothing’s wrong. These migraines are in your head.” She was given anxiety medication and a powerful injectable drug for severe migraines—so strong that she had to sit on the bed, give herself the shot, and would immediately pass out. That was the solution. And night after night, Ellen would cry herself to sleep—not just because of the pain, but because of the lack of hope. 🌅 When Hope Returned Then we found chiropractic care. Her chiropractor—Dr. Morrow—did a full evaluation, took X-rays, checked leg length, and listened. And within a few short weeks, everything changed. The migraines faded. The hope came back. And life returned. I’ve said this many times, and I’ll say it again: Dr. Morrow (Chiropractic) gave me my wife back. We could go on dates again. We didn’t have to cancel plans. Ellen could be present—fully present—at home and in life. That’s what health does. 🏡 Health = Being Present & Productive Health allows us to: Be present at homeBe productive at workShow up for our familyEnjoy life instead of enduring itAnd I’ll be honest with you—I’ve lived this myself. Many of you have watched me regain my own health with my personal weight loss. By reclaiming my vitality, I became: A better husbandA better fatherA better community and church memberAnd honestly, a better doctorBecause I’m walking this road with you, not ahead of you. 🧠 Correction Is Critical… But Then What? Here’s the big question: Once we correct the spine… what happens next? That’s where maintenance care becomes critically important. If I stopped doing the things that helped me regain my health—logging food, staying active, being disciplined—what do you think would happen? We all know the answer. Health doesn’t stay by accident. It stays by intention. 🔁 Maintenance Care Is About Protecting What You’ve Gained Maintenance chiropractic care is about: Preserving spinal integritySupporting the nervous systemPreventing regressionAllowing the body to heal long-term, not just short-termIt’s the difference between: ✔️ Temporary relief ✔️ Sustained health 🤓 A Quick “Chiropractic Geek” Moment (Bear with Me) In chiropractic school, we were taught that once you develop arthritis or bone spurs—calcium deposits along the spine—they’re permanent. They don’t go away. I believed that… until I started seeing something different. During maintenance re-X-rays (which we take every couple of years), I started noticing something remarkable: 👉 Bone spurs were smaller. Reduced. Changing. At first, I thought I was imagining it. So, I reached out to other chiropractors. Compared notes. Reviewed the research. And here’s what newer research is showing: Bone spurs can be reabsorbed by the body when proper alignment and function are restored over time. Not in weeks. Not in a few months. But over years of consistent, diligent care. 🧱 Healing Takes Time—but It’s Worth It True healing requires: Consistent spinal careSpinal hygiene exercisesProper hydrationClean nutrition (as best you can)Giving the body the building blocks it needsYour body is incredibly intelligent. When it no longer needs to compensate, it can begin to repair.

    7 min
  2. 🪥 Spinal Hygiene: Daily Habits That Protect Your Spine

    2D AGO

    🪥 Spinal Hygiene: Daily Habits That Protect Your Spine

    Let’s talk to you about something that can drastically improve the results of your chiropractic care—your spinal hygiene exercises. Think of these exercises the same way you think about brushing your teeth. You don’t brush for an hour once a week. You brush a little every day to protect what you’ve already gained. Your spine works the same way. 📚 What All Anatomy Textbooks Agree On When it comes to spinal health, every anatomy textbook agrees on three non-negotiables: Full range of motion in every spinal segmentMuscle symmetry—one side shouldn’t be tighter than the otherProper spinal curvesCervical lordosis (neck curve)Thoracic kyphosis (mid-back curve)Lumbar lordosis (low-back curve)Those curves act as shock absorbers, protecting your spine for the long haul. When one of those three breaks down, degeneration speeds up. 🧠 The 4 Spinal Hygiene Exercises Now let’s get into the good stuff. 1️⃣ Morning Range of Motion (Wake the Spine Up) First thing in the morning, your ligaments and tendons are stiff. We want to gently restore movement. You’ll perform six cardinal movements: FlexionExtensionLeft lateral flexionRight lateral flexionLeft rotationRight rotationDo these for both your neck and low back, holding each position 15–20 seconds. This frees up the tissues that hold your spine together and restores mobility for the day. 2️⃣ Wobble Disc (Pump the Discs!) 🎵 “Wobble to the left, wobble to the right, Wobble, wobble, wobble till you sit up right.” 🎵 This exercise works through a process called imbibition—the pumping action of the discs. Here’s why that matters: Once you’re over 20 years old, your discs no longer have a direct blood supply. They rely on movement to: Bring nutrients inFlush waste outNo movement = no nutrition = degeneration. The wobble disc restores that movement, especially at: L4–L5L5–S1(The most common levels for disc bulges and “throwing your back out.”) Do: Left/right: 10–12 repsForward/back: 10–12 repsCircles: clockwise & counterclockwiseIt’s also an excellent warm-up before your adjustment—just like stretching before a workout  3️⃣ TheraBand Neck Strengthening (Fix Text Neck) This one targets a deep postural muscle called the longus colli—a key muscle for head and neck posture. Here’s the setup: Pull your head straight back (give yourself a double chin)Keep your head perfectly stillPlace the TheraBand behind your headExtend your arms out and return👉 The head does not move 👉 Do about 12 reps This isn’t about building big muscles—it’s about waking up postural muscles so your head stays back where it belongs when you’re: Working at a computerGardeningOn your phoneBetter posture = less wear and tear over time. 4️⃣ Spinal Molding Rolls (Restore the Curves) This is your end-of-day exercise. You’ll use two molding rolls: One under your neckOne under your low backDo this on your bed, not the floor. The bed gives just enough support without being too aggressive. Why at the end of the day? 👉 Your discs are more fluid 👉 More receptive to gentle molding Lay there for 3–5 minutes, allowing your natural curves to be restored. Remember: degenerative disc disease starts with loss of curve. This exercise directly addresses that.

    10 min
  3. 💡 Is Your Nervous System on a Dimmer Switch?

    3D AGO

    💡 Is Your Nervous System on a Dimmer Switch?

    Some of you may remember Christopher Reeve, the actor who famously played Superman back in the day. He truly embodied strength and vitality. But during a horseback riding accident, he suffered a devastating injury at the very top of his neck—between the first two cervical bones. That injury didn’t damage his lungs. It didn’t injure his heart. It didn’t harm his digestive organs. Instead, it cut off the nerve supply at the top, and as a result, his entire body below the neck was affected. Breathing required a ventilator. Digestion required assistance. Movement was lost. Why does that matter to you—and what does it have to do with chiropractic? Let me explain it this way. 🔌 Breaker Switch vs. Dimmer Switch Imagine going down to your basement and flipping the main breaker off. 💥 Everything shuts down. No lights. No power. That’s what happened with Christopher Reeve—a total disconnection. Now here’s the key difference… Most people don’t have a breaker switch problem. They have a dimmer switch problem. With spinal misalignments (what chiropractors call subluxations), the nerve signal isn’t fully turned off—it’s just turned down. The light is still on… …but it’s not shining as bright as it should. ⚡ The Speed of Nerves (and Why It Matters) Your nerve signals travel at about 300 miles per hour. That’s fast—for a reason. But research shows that when a nerve root becomes irritated or inflamed, that signal can slow down by up to one-third. So now instead of 300 mph, it’s traveling closer to 200 mph. Sure, that still sounds fast—but here’s the real question: 👉 What happens when signals to your heart, lungs, digestive system, or immune system are slowed down every second of every day? That’s not just about pain—that’s about function. 🌡️ What We’re Measuring in the Office When we perform thermography scans, we’re not guessing—we’re measuring heat patterns coming off joints and nerve roots. Inflammation creates heat. Heat tells a story. And that story helps us understand how well—or how poorly—your nervous system is communicating with your body. 🧠 Why People Feel Better Beyond Pain Relief Yes—people feel better because pain decreases. That’s obvious. But something deeper is happening too. When spinal stress is reduced: Stress hormones like cortisol begin to normalizeHealthy hormones like DHEA rebalanceThe nervous system shifts out of fight-or-flightThat’s why we see changes like: Improved moodBetter sleepRegular bowel movementsLower blood pressureCalmer kidsMore energy and clarityWhen you change the neurology, you change the outcome. ❤️ Chiropractic Is About More Than Pain Now don’t get me wrong, we love helping people with neck pain and back pain. That’s important. But if we can help you or your loved ones: Have more energyFeel more aliveSleep betterDigest betterThink more clearlyLive with more purposeThat’s a huge win for us—and hopefully for you too.

    4 min
  4. 🦴 Is Arthritis Just “Old Age” … or Something Else?

    4D AGO

    🦴 Is Arthritis Just “Old Age” … or Something Else?

    ⚙️ Arthritis Isn’t Random—It’s Mechanical If arthritis were simply caused by age, then every disc in your spine—being the same age—would wear down equally. But that’s not what we see. I’ll often show patients their X-rays and point out something like this: C5–C6: Disc thinning, bone spurs, degenerationC2–C3: Looks greatSame person. Same age. Same spine. So, what gives? At some point, a misalignment (subluxation) occurred at that segment, changing how it moved—and more importantly, how it didn’t move.  🧠 Motion = Nutrition Your spinal discs don’t have a direct blood supply. They rely on movement to: Pump nutrients inFlush waste products outWhen a segment becomes restricted or misaligned, that pumping action stops. No movement → no nutrition → degeneration. Think of it like gears in a truck engine. If one gear is off just a little, over time it grinds instead of glides. Grinding leads to wear and tear. Wear and tear lead to arthritis. 📉 Let’s Go Deeper: The Cervical Curve Matters Here’s where things get interesting. Last year, researchers performed a meta-analysis (a study of many studies) looking at the relationship between: Loss of the cervical curve (neck curve)ScoliosisWhat did they find? 👉 100% of scoliotic cases had a loss of cervical lordosis. Not some. Not most. All of them. That means posture—especially “text neck”—plays a much bigger role than most people realize. 🦷 Why Loss of Curve Leads to Arthritis The joints in your neck (facet joints) are designed to glide smoothly when your spine has proper curvature. When you lose that curve: The joints are no longer parallelOne side becomes compressedThe other side overstretchesNow instead of gliding, the joints grind. And anything that grinds… becomes arthritic. Add decades of: Looking down at phonesDrivingWorkingLiving life…and you can see how degeneration accelerates. 📐 Curves, Compression, and Muscle Imbalance When the spine curves abnormally: The concave side compresses → faster arthritisThe convex side overstretches → muscle weaknessThat’s why we often see: One side tighterOne side weakerAsymmetrical postureEspecially in scoliosis or abnormal curvature cases. 🧠 How Do We Correct This? One of the biggest keys we’ve seen in our office starts with the cervical curve. When we restore that curve: Abnormal spinal curves begin to improveDegenerative forces decreaseMuscle balance improvesA big part of this is consistency with corrective therapies. 🔊 Why the Vibration Plate Matters Love it or hate it, the vibration plate works. When combined with head weighting: It triggers a righting reflexThe brain signals posture muscles to engageThe head moves back into better alignmentThose muscles attach to ligaments and tendons—so now we’re not just adjusting bones, we’re retraining the system. When we: Unlock the spine with an adjustmentReduce inflammationEngage muscles on the vibration plate…the post-X-rays are often dramatically improved. 🏁 The Big Takeaway Arthritis is not just “bad luck” or “old age.” It’s often the result of: Lost motionLost curvatureLong-term mechanical stress

    6 min
  5. 🚨 Symptoms: Warning Signs, Not the Problem

    5D AGO

    🚨 Symptoms: Warning Signs, Not the Problem

    👉 If you look good and feel good… are you necessarily healthy? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Many of us have friends or family members who looked great, felt fine, and were “thriving” … right up until a heart attack, stroke, or cancer diagnosis. There were no obvious warning signs—or so it seemed. And that brings us to one of the biggest problems in our healthcare system today. 🚗 Symptoms Are the “Check Engine Light” Modern healthcare is fantastic at one thing: treating symptoms. Got a symptom? There’s a pill. A potion. A lotion. But rarely do we pop the hood and look at the engine. Symptoms are like the check engine light on your dashboard. They aren’t the problem—they’re a warning telling you something deeper needs attention. 🤢 When Symptoms Are Actually a Good Thing Let’s use a real-world example. You get dressed up, ready to paint the town, and head out to the nicest restaurant in Washington County… (let’s say Taco Bell 😄). The food doesn’t sit well. You get sick. Really sick. Is vomiting fun? No. Is it pleasant? Absolutely not. But would you want that tainted food sitting in your stomach, absorbing into your bloodstream? Of course not. Those symptoms—while miserable—are your body doing the right thing. Sometimes symptoms aren’t the enemy. They’re the message. 🧠 What About Symptoms in the Spine? Pain, headaches, migraines, numbness, stiffness, these can all be signals that something deeper is happening neurologically. For me, what originally got me into chiropractic was Ellen’s migraines. Watching her suffering was heartbreaking. When we finally went to a chiropractor, he didn’t just ask what hurts—he asked: 🚂 How Did I End Up Here? So many patients ask: “How did I go from feeling fine to chronic headaches?”“Why is my blood pressure suddenly high?”“How did my disc get so bad I can barely stand?”“Why can’t I pick up my kids or grandkids anymore?”The answer is rarely one thing. It’s usually what we call the 3 T’s. 🔑 The 3 T’s That Lead to Symptoms 1️⃣ Trauma Trauma can be big or small. Big trauma: car accidents, falls, sports injuriesSmall trauma (micro-trauma): posture, phone use, repetitive movementsEllen’s violin practice—hours with her head cocked to one side—created repetitive stress. For others, it’s: “Text neck”Sitting at a deskDriving equipmentRepetitive work posturesOver time, these distort the spine and nervous system. 2️⃣ Toxins This includes: The food we eatThe air we breatheChemicals we’re exposed toThese toxins create inflammation, and inflammation places additional stress on the spine and nervous system, increasing the likelihood of misalignments. 3️⃣ Thoughts (The Sneaky One) This one’s fascinating—and powerful. How we think about: OurselvesOur relationshipsOur stressOur lives…directly affects our nervous system. Chronic stress increases cortisol, which can weaken ligaments and tendons, reducing spinal stability. That leads to more misalignments, more stress, and more symptoms. It’s a vicious cycle if left unaddressed. 🛑 Symptoms Aren’t Bad—They’re Informative Symptoms aren’t something to fear. They’re your body saying: 🚨 “Pay attention.” They’re not meant to be masked forever with pills, potions, and lotions. They’re meant to guide us toward correction, healing, and long-term health.

    6 min
  6. 🚆 Why Do Chiropractors Check Leg Length?

    6D AGO

    🚆 Why Do Chiropractors Check Leg Length?

    🚆 Why Do Chiropractors Check Leg Length? Have you ever noticed that when you’re being adjusted—or when you’re watching someone else get adjusted—their leg length changes really fast? And maybe you’ve wondered… 👉 “Is my leg actually shorter?” 👉 “What are they really checking?” Great questions. Let me share a little neurology, and I promise—we’ll keep it simple and fun. 🧠 Let’s Talk About the Brain (Using a Train 🚆) When your spine is misaligned (subluxated), your body doesn’t stay quiet about it. In fact, four key structures immediately start sending warning signals up to your brain: Muscles – tightening or stretching abnormallyFacet joints – the joints where your spinal bones meetDiscs – the cushions between the bonesGolgi tendon organs – sensors that protect your tendons from overstretchingAll of these signals hop on a “train” and head straight to the brain. 🎯 First Stop: The Cerebellum That train pulls into the cerebellum, the lower part of your brain responsible for: BalanceCoordinationProprioception (your body’s sense of position in space)The cerebellum says, “Hey—something isn’t right in the spine!” Whether it’s your neck, mid-back, or low back, the message is loud and clear. 🚦 Next Stop: The Thalamus → Cortex From there, the signal moves to the thalamus, which acts like a relay station, and then up to the cortex—the thinking, decision-making part of the brain. Your cortex knows what should be happening: Proper spinal curvesEqual movementSmooth, balanced motionBut when that’s not happening, the brain decides it needs to compensate. ⬇️ The Train Heads Back Down the Spine Now the train heads back down the spinal cord, telling the body to: Tighten certain musclesShift postureProtect the problem areaThis is where things get interesting… Those postural changes often show up as uneven leg length. 👉 Not because one bone is shorter 👉 But because muscles and posture are being neurologically altered That’s why when we check leg length, it gives us real-time feedback about what your nervous system is doing and where your body needs help. 👐 What the Adjustment Does When we deliver a chiropractic adjustment, something powerful happens: ✅ The abnormal signal to the brain is turned off ✅ The destructive loop of muscle tightening is interrupted ✅ The nervous system can reset and recalibrate That’s why leg lengths often balance out immediately after an adjustment—it’s a neurological change, not a bone change. 🧩 Why We Use Multiple Assessments In our office, leg length checks are just one piece of the puzzle. We also use: Insight technology scansThermographySurface EMGHeart rate variabilityX-ray analysisPosture analysisTogether, these tools allow us to be corrective-based, not just reactive—helping your body function better, not just feel better  💆‍♀️ Why Massage & Exercises Matter Too When muscles tighten unevenly, it creates asymmetry. That’s why: Chiropractic careMassage therapySpinal hygiene exercises…all work best together. Mobility, stability, and movement keep your nervous system firing on all cylinders. ❤️ Final Thought Your body is incredibly intelligent—it’s always adapting and compensating. Our job is to help remove interference so your nervous system can do what it was designed to do.

    4 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Welcome to Back in Line with Dr. Mosier—the show where chiropractic meets real life. I'm your host, Dr. Mosier, alongside my amazing wife and cohost, Ellen. Together, we dive into the aches, pains, and postures of everyday living—unpacking spinal health, lifestyle habits, and the little things that throw us out of line (literally and figuratively). Whether you're battling back pain or just trying to keep up with your kids, this podcast is your go-to for practical advice, expert insights, and a few laughs along the way. Is your health in line—or falling behind? Let’s get you Back in Line.