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
Hello there! I really enjoy reading your blog! If you keep making amazing posts like this I will come back every day to keep reading.
Hello there. I found your web site by way of Google while searching for a similar matter, your site came up. It appears to be good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Hello there. I found your web site by means of Google at the same time as looking for a similar matter, your web site came up. It appears great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Hello there. I found your web site by the use of Google while searching for a related topic, your website got here up. It appears to be good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Awesome write-up. I am a normal visitor of your web site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I will be a regular visitor for a long time.
Excellent blog you have here.. It’s hard to find quality writing like yours these days. I truly appreciate people like you! Take care!!
Hi there. I discovered your blog by means of Google while searching for a similar matter, your website came up. It seems to be great. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Awesome post. I am a regular visitor of your blog and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I’ll be a regular visitor for a long time.
Awesome post. I am a regular visitor of your website and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I’ll be a regular visitor for a long time.
Having read this I thought it was very enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this informative article together. I once again find myself spending a significant amount of time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!
Awesome write-up. I am a normal visitor of your web site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I’ll be a frequent visitor for a really long time.
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 long time.
Awesome write-up. I am a normal visitor of your site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a frequent visitor for a really long time.
Awesome post. I’m a normal visitor of your blog and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I’ll be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Today bloggers publish only about gossip and web stuff and this is actually annoying. A good site with interesting content, that’s what I need. Thanks for making this web site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Greetings! Very helpful advice within this post! It’s the little changes which will make the most significant changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Hey there. I discovered your website by the use of Google whilst searching for a comparable matter, your site came up. It appears great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Excellent blog right here! Also your web site so much up very fast! What host are you the use of? Can I am getting your affiliate hyperlink on your host? I wish my site loaded up as fast as yours lol
I¡¦ve been exploring for a bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts in this kind of space . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this website. Studying this info So i¡¦m happy to express that I’ve an incredibly good uncanny feeling I came upon just what I needed. I so much no doubt will make certain to do not put out of your mind this website and provides it a glance regularly.
Hello.This post was extremely interesting, particularly since I was searching for thoughts on this topic last Saturday.