Post by SodaGuy on Sept 3, 2009 20:10:32 GMT -5
TNA BACKSTAGE: INTRODUCING DR. TIM ADAIR
By Ross Forman
Dr. Tim Adair still recalls his first patient back in early-1997, who came to his Nashville-area office the same day he received his chiropractic license. She was an injured aerobics teacher who came hobbling in the front door and couldn’t stand up straight – and she said she had to teach class in about four hours.
Adair wasn’t expecting anyone that first day. Heck, he was still putting his books away when duty called, so to speak.
The patient was Jill Jarrett and, sure enough, she taught her class that night.
Jill’s husband, pro wrestler Jeff Jarrett, was skeptical. He figured the doctor would want to see Jill multiple more times. She said, no, only if needed.
A few months later, an injured Jeff visited Adair. He endured a major lower back injury. Jarrett, from a 45-degree bent over position, told Adair that he just wanted to wrestle for two or three more years. That of course was 1997 – and Jarrett is still a prominent superstar for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling.
“We laugh about that now,” said Adair, 39, who lives in Gallatin, Tenn., and for the past year or so has been the Official TNA Chiropractor, attending TNA shows once a month.
He treats the woes of Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner, not to mention TNA referees, Knockouts (women) and even front-office executives.
“It’s an exciting job, but very challenging,” said Adair, a former high school basketball player who has a black belt in tae kwon do. “I will see guys who literally cannot stand up straight and say they are on TV in 40 minutes. You don’t get injuries in other sports that you get in pro wrestling. For instance, no one in football, basketball or baseball gets dropped seven- or eight-feet; you don’t see the trauma in (those other sports) that you see in pro wrestling. So it definitely keeps you on your toes.
“With basketball (players), I’ll get three or four sprained ankles per week. With wrestlers, anything’s possible.”
Adair graduated from Pioneer Christian Academy in 1998, and then went on to Belmont University. He eventually received a doctoral degree from the School of Chiropractic at Life University. He received several more kinesiology-related degrees in the late-1990s.
His office is close to TNA’s headquarters in Nashville.
“After I treated Jeff that first time, he encouraged other wrestlers to visit,” said Adair, who soon was working on Steiner, Diamond Dallas Page (DDP), Ron and Don Harris, Disco Inferno and other mat stars.
“When Dixie (Carter) got involved (with TNA as the President in the early-2000s), they were trying to figure out a way to make the abilities of the wrestlers a little greater; instead of paying for back, neck and knee surgeries, they wanted to fix the guys before (surgery was needed). They had progressive thinking, a preventative mindset.”
Adair is married (Cyndi) with a daughter (Zoe, 6, which means Life in Greek). He is a private pilot who often flies himself to TNA shows.
“I’ve seen several (wrestlers) who are what I call home runs; they literally cannot walk or stand up straight because of lumbar disc issues and their legs were cutting out from underneath them. But, after a couple hours (of treatment), we had them in the ring on TV,” Adair said. “The most common wrestling injuries, because of the way they fall on their back, are upper back (and) lower neck. That leads to numb hands and headaches. That’s eight of 10 (cases). Next is lumbar disc and lower back, pain that affects leg strength.
“Ironically, it’s not (the injuries) I first thought I’d see with wrestlers. I thought, with all of their high-flying (moves), there would be a lot of knee injuries, along with wrists and fists. But it’s not really much trauma to those things.”
Adair, known as Dr. Tim to the wrestling crew, treats 20-30 wrestlers per visit. Each needs 10-30 minutes of his times, often more.
“Coming to TNA is a great change of scenery (from the office),” he said. “But it certainly is pressure-filled, and challenging. The more injured the wrestler was (in his past), which means he may have nuts, bolts, rods, screws, plates, etc. (in him), then it changes what I’m allowed to do. With every restriction, I have to get more creative. That stuff, I never see in my office.
“The one thing I definitely have learned through TNA is to never be surprised where their relative boundary is as far as injury. There are injuries that you can’t even dream possible, yet they are common in wrestling. We’re talking guys who have had three, four or five neck surgeries. Others who have had 12 or 13 knee injuries. And yet they’re still performing at a high level after all that.
“In the NFL, when a running back has three (knee) surgeries, he’s likely done.
These wrestlers are warriors. It surprises me that the human body can still do some of the things that the wrestlers can do, what they can withstand, what they can endure.”
Not all of the wrestlers are convinced Dr. Tim has the right answer for them, at least at first. Skepticism is common, he said, at least if they’ve never experienced muscle testing.
“I’m smaller than almost all of the wrestlers, but when I push them around and they’re completely weak, I’m muscle-testing a problem,” Adair said. “Eventually they go from, ‘Wow, that’s (a) weird (feeling),’ to ‘Wow, that’s better.’
By Ross Forman
Dr. Tim Adair still recalls his first patient back in early-1997, who came to his Nashville-area office the same day he received his chiropractic license. She was an injured aerobics teacher who came hobbling in the front door and couldn’t stand up straight – and she said she had to teach class in about four hours.
Adair wasn’t expecting anyone that first day. Heck, he was still putting his books away when duty called, so to speak.
The patient was Jill Jarrett and, sure enough, she taught her class that night.
Jill’s husband, pro wrestler Jeff Jarrett, was skeptical. He figured the doctor would want to see Jill multiple more times. She said, no, only if needed.
A few months later, an injured Jeff visited Adair. He endured a major lower back injury. Jarrett, from a 45-degree bent over position, told Adair that he just wanted to wrestle for two or three more years. That of course was 1997 – and Jarrett is still a prominent superstar for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling.
“We laugh about that now,” said Adair, 39, who lives in Gallatin, Tenn., and for the past year or so has been the Official TNA Chiropractor, attending TNA shows once a month.
He treats the woes of Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner, not to mention TNA referees, Knockouts (women) and even front-office executives.
“It’s an exciting job, but very challenging,” said Adair, a former high school basketball player who has a black belt in tae kwon do. “I will see guys who literally cannot stand up straight and say they are on TV in 40 minutes. You don’t get injuries in other sports that you get in pro wrestling. For instance, no one in football, basketball or baseball gets dropped seven- or eight-feet; you don’t see the trauma in (those other sports) that you see in pro wrestling. So it definitely keeps you on your toes.
“With basketball (players), I’ll get three or four sprained ankles per week. With wrestlers, anything’s possible.”
Adair graduated from Pioneer Christian Academy in 1998, and then went on to Belmont University. He eventually received a doctoral degree from the School of Chiropractic at Life University. He received several more kinesiology-related degrees in the late-1990s.
His office is close to TNA’s headquarters in Nashville.
“After I treated Jeff that first time, he encouraged other wrestlers to visit,” said Adair, who soon was working on Steiner, Diamond Dallas Page (DDP), Ron and Don Harris, Disco Inferno and other mat stars.
“When Dixie (Carter) got involved (with TNA as the President in the early-2000s), they were trying to figure out a way to make the abilities of the wrestlers a little greater; instead of paying for back, neck and knee surgeries, they wanted to fix the guys before (surgery was needed). They had progressive thinking, a preventative mindset.”
Adair is married (Cyndi) with a daughter (Zoe, 6, which means Life in Greek). He is a private pilot who often flies himself to TNA shows.
“I’ve seen several (wrestlers) who are what I call home runs; they literally cannot walk or stand up straight because of lumbar disc issues and their legs were cutting out from underneath them. But, after a couple hours (of treatment), we had them in the ring on TV,” Adair said. “The most common wrestling injuries, because of the way they fall on their back, are upper back (and) lower neck. That leads to numb hands and headaches. That’s eight of 10 (cases). Next is lumbar disc and lower back, pain that affects leg strength.
“Ironically, it’s not (the injuries) I first thought I’d see with wrestlers. I thought, with all of their high-flying (moves), there would be a lot of knee injuries, along with wrists and fists. But it’s not really much trauma to those things.”
Adair, known as Dr. Tim to the wrestling crew, treats 20-30 wrestlers per visit. Each needs 10-30 minutes of his times, often more.
“Coming to TNA is a great change of scenery (from the office),” he said. “But it certainly is pressure-filled, and challenging. The more injured the wrestler was (in his past), which means he may have nuts, bolts, rods, screws, plates, etc. (in him), then it changes what I’m allowed to do. With every restriction, I have to get more creative. That stuff, I never see in my office.
“The one thing I definitely have learned through TNA is to never be surprised where their relative boundary is as far as injury. There are injuries that you can’t even dream possible, yet they are common in wrestling. We’re talking guys who have had three, four or five neck surgeries. Others who have had 12 or 13 knee injuries. And yet they’re still performing at a high level after all that.
“In the NFL, when a running back has three (knee) surgeries, he’s likely done.
These wrestlers are warriors. It surprises me that the human body can still do some of the things that the wrestlers can do, what they can withstand, what they can endure.”
Not all of the wrestlers are convinced Dr. Tim has the right answer for them, at least at first. Skepticism is common, he said, at least if they’ve never experienced muscle testing.
“I’m smaller than almost all of the wrestlers, but when I push them around and they’re completely weak, I’m muscle-testing a problem,” Adair said. “Eventually they go from, ‘Wow, that’s (a) weird (feeling),’ to ‘Wow, that’s better.’
