What Is Your “Tommy John” Ligament?
You’ve probably heard of a few odd or unusual terms that refer to various medical conditions, body parts, or specific injuries. One of the most common of these terms, particularly heard in sports circles, is used to describe the Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) of the elbow, also known as the “Tommy John Ligament.”
The UCL, or Tommy John ligament, is the main ligament stabilizing the inner part of the elbow. It attaches the end of the arm bone to one of the forearm bones. The UCL is often torn or stretched by activities causing repetitive strain on the ligament – particularly throwing or tennis. Stretching of the ligament can cause subtle instability in the elbow leading to pain with repetitive throwing. Often the ligament needs to be reconstructed with a tendon graft to restore its strength and allow return to pain-free throwing or overhead sports, a procedure that has become common in baseball pitchers.
Where Did The Name Tommy John Come From?
Tommy John was major league baseball pitcher for the L.A. Dodgers and New York Yankees over a twenty-year career and was the first person to undergo the procedure that now carries his name. John began to experience some serious ligament discomfort and pitching problems around 1974. Dr. Frank Jobe, a noted orthopaedic surgeon who was team physician for the L.A. Dodgers at that time diagnosed John with tearing of the UCL as the cause of his pitching problems and devised a new surgical procedure to reconstruct the ligament – a radical and controversial treatment at the time. Back then, it was believed that a major league pitcher could never return to pitching in the big leagues after having surgery. Faced with few options and the prospect of having to retire from baseball, John placed his trust in Dr. Jobe and underwent the procedure. He then went on to return to the major leagues and had a successful Hall of Fame carreer. Based on his success, the procedure became known as the “Tommy John” procedure and is now commonly performed on baseball pitchers with painful elbows.
Misconceptions About the “Tommy John” Procedure
Based on John’s experience and the success of others who have had the procedure over the years there has become a misconception that undergoing the procedure can actually improve pitching performance over that of having a normal elbow. Many players and coaches came to believe that the procedure increased pitching velocity and accuracy and that players were actually “better” after undergoing the procedure. There is no medical or biomechanical evidence to support this. However, most sports medicine and athletic trainers believe that the post-operative rehab and strengthening that players undergo after the surgery is what often times can lead to their improved performance. This has lead to more research and focus on prevent exercises and training regimens to improve performance in throwing and to help prevent the need for a thrower to undergo a “Tommy John” procedure.
Read this: Advair Diskus
A neighbor of mine encouraged me to take a look at your blog site couple weeks ago, given that we both love similar stuff and I will need to say I am quite impressed.
Hi there, You have done a fantastic job. I’ll definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m sure they will be benefited from this web site.
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I don’t know who you are but definitely you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
I was reading through some of your content on this internet site and I believe this web site is very informative ! Continue posting .
Wish I’d thought of this. Am in the field, but I procrastinate alot and haven’t written as much as I’d like. Thanks.
What’s up i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this paragraph i thought i could also make comment due to this brilliant post.|
I have to express my appreciation for your generosity in support of those individuals that have the need for help on this one subject. Your personal dedication to getting the solution throughout became remarkably valuable and have truly allowed women just like me to arrive at their ambitions. This helpful recommendations entails a lot to me and especially to my peers. Many thanks; from all of us.
Hi my family member! I want to say that this article is awesome, nice written and come with almost all significant infos. I would like to peer more posts like this .
I blog quite often and I seriously thank you for your information. This article has truly peaked my interest. I’m going to bookmark your blog and keep checking for new information about once per week. I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.
I really appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thanks again
I am continuously searching online for ideas that can facilitate me. Thank you!
Thank you for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more from this post. I am very glad to see such excellent information being shared freely out there.
nicee content keep writing
I have to say this post was certainly informative and contains useful content for enthusiastic visitors. I will definitely bookmark this website for future reference and further viewing. cheers a bunch for sharing this with us!
You should take part in a contest for one of the finest sites on the internet. I am going to recommend this web site!|
Thank you for sharing superb informations. Your web-site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this blog. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for more articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found simply the info I already searched everywhere and simply could not come across. What an ideal web site.
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it is really informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll appreciate if you continue this in future. Lots of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
Whats Happening i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It positively useful and it has aided me out loads. I hope to contribute & aid different users like its helped me. Great job.
I have been exploring for a bit for any high quality articles or blog posts on this sort of space . Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled upon this website. Studying this info So i am satisfied to show that I’ve a very just right uncanny feeling I found out just what I needed. I most indisputably will make certain to do not overlook this website and give it a look on a continuing basis.
I have been reading out some of your posts and it’s clever stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.