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.
Wow, marvelous blog format! How lengthy have you ever been running a blog for? you made running a blog glance easy. The whole glance of your site is great, as smartly as the content material!
Hey there. I found your website by way of Google while searching for a related topic, your site got here up. It appears good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Hello there. I discovered your blog by means of Google while searching for a comparable subject, your website got here up. It seems great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is actually annoying. A good blog with interesting content, that’s what I need. Thanks for making this web-site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Can I just say what a relief to search out somebody who genuinely is aware of what theyre speaking about on the internet. You undoubtedly know how to deliver a problem to light and make it crucial. Extra folks need to have to learn this and perceive this facet with the story. I cant consider youre no more common because you positively have the gift.
Hello there. I found your website via Google whilst looking for a similar topic, your web site got here up. It seems good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Hello there. I found your blog by the use of Google at the same time as searching for a similar topic, your website got here up. It seems good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Hello there. I found your blog by the use of Google even as looking for a related subject, your website got here up. It appears great. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Awesome post. I am a regular visitor of your blog and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I’ll be a regular visitor for a long time.
Hi there. I found your blog by the use of Google even as searching for a related subject, your website got here up. It looks good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Hey there. I discovered your blog by way of Google while looking for a related matter, your web site got here up. It seems to be great. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is actually irritating. A good site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thank you for making this site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Today bloggers publish only about gossip and net stuff and this is actually annoying. A good web site with exciting content, this is what I need. Thank you for making this web-site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Awesome post. I’m a regular visitor of your blog and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a frequent visitor for a long time.
Hey there. I discovered your site via Google at the same time as searching for a related matter, your web site got here up. It appears great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
I am extremely impressed together with your writing talents as smartly as with the layout in your blog. Is that this a paid topic or did you customize it your self? Either way stay up the nice high quality writing, it is rare to look a great blog like this one nowadays..
Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this info. Today bloggers publish only about gossip and internet stuff and this is actually frustrating. A good blog with exciting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this website, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and internet stuff and this is really annoying. A good site with exciting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this website, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hi there. I discovered your blog by the use of Google at the same time as searching for a related topic, your website came up. It seems good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Awesome post. I’m a regular visitor of your website and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I’ll be a frequent visitor for a really long time.