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
Awesome write-up. I’m a normal visitor of your web site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Good info. Lucky me I found your blog by chance (stumbleupon). I have bookmarked it for later!
Hello there. I found your blog by the use of Google while looking for a related subject, your web site came up. It appears good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
This website was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something that helped me. Kudos!|
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 regular visitor for a long time.
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossip and internet stuff and this is actually annoying. A good web 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?
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this information. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and internet stuff and this is actually annoying. A good website with exciting content, that’s what I need. Thanks for making this web-site, and I will 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 comparable topic, your website came up. It seems good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
What’s Going down i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered It absolutely helpful and it has aided me out loads. I’m hoping to contribute & assist other users like its helped me. Great job.|
I see something genuinely interesting about your web site so I saved to favorites .
Hey, you used to write magnificent, but the last few posts have been kinda boring¡K I miss your tremendous writings. Past several posts are just a bit out of track! come on!
Hiya, I am really glad I have found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossip and internet stuff and this is really frustrating. A good web site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this web-site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hi to every body, it’s my first pay a visit of this website; this web site carries remarkable and actually fine data for visitors.|
Good – I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your website. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs and related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or something, web site theme . a tones way for your customer to communicate. Nice task.
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossip and net stuff and this is actually annoying. A good site with interesting content, that’s what I need. Thank you for making this website, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hi there. I discovered your web site by way of Google at the same time as looking for a comparable matter, your web site got here up. It seems to be good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Hi there. I found your site by the use of Google even as looking for a comparable subject, your website got here up. It seems to be good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
I’m really impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to see a great blog like this one today..
I not to mention my buddies have already been reviewing the best items on your site while quickly I had a terrible suspicion I had not thanked the web blog owner for them. These men came for this reason thrilled to see all of them and have definitely been taking pleasure in these things. Appreciate your turning out to be indeed accommodating and then for using certain ideal subject areas most people are really eager to understand about. Our sincere apologies for not saying thanks to you sooner.
Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely useful information specially the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was seeking this certain information for a very long time. Thank you and best of luck.