Tommy John Surgery, Rehab, and Elbow Braces
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Posted On :
Jun-08-2013
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Article Word Count :
517
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Tommy John was a former pitcher for the L.A. Dodgers and the first baseball player to undergo ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction in 1974. Since then this surgery has been nicknamed “Tommy John Surgery,” For the past 30+ years many other baseball players have gone through this surgery, especially pitchers.
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Tommy John was a former pitcher for the L.A. Dodgers and the first baseball player to undergo ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction in 1974. Since then this surgery has been nicknamed “Tommy John Surgery,” For the past 30+ years many other baseball players have gone through this surgery, especially pitchers.
When you throw a baseball over and over, you end up placing a great amount of stress on the elbow. Such a strain can lead to inflammation, microscopic tissue trauma, and ultimately a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament also known as the medical collateral ligament. In the past, this kind of injury for a baseball player meant the end of his career.
When Tommy John underwent this surgery, doctors did not expect him to make a full recovery, never mind return pitching fastballs for the major league. After a vigorous and long recovery which lasted 18 months, he did in fact return to major league baseball, pitching for another fifteen years.
Today this surgery has saved the careers of many baseball players. Just recently Gavin Floyd, a pitcher for the White Sox, underwent Tommy John Surgery. Nowadays the expected recovery time has lessened to 10-12 months. Although baseball players like Gavin Floyd will be out for a season due to recovery time, which in turn weakens the overall performance of the team, in the big scheme of things their careers are saved. Some people believe that Tommy John Surgery actually improves pitching capabilities of baseball players, making their arms faster and stronger than they were before, but this is only a misconception. Although there may be an increase in pitching speed, this is not caused from the surgery, but rather is due to the fact that the pitcher has an increased attention to conditioning.
According to yougoprobaseball.com, what this surgery actually does is “replace a ligament in the medical elbow with a tendon from somewhere else in the body like the forearm, hamstring, knee, or foot. The tendon that is taken is then wrapped or woven into a figure eight pattern through tunnels that have been drilled into the ulna and humerus bone.”
Following surgery, there is an intense recovery period in which baseball players must go through in order to avoid any future injuries. From the first week of recovery until the last month the long process consists of wearing a hard elbow brace, exercising the arm, then eventually beginning a throwing program. Eventually the strength returns to the arm and baseball players return to playing on their team.
Before this can happen though, it is important for baseball players to wear a range-of-motion brace to gradually regain full motion of the elbow joint. For six weeks this elbow brace is worn, and during that time range of motion is increased each week. Once returning to the field, some players continue to wear a hinged elbow brace, which provides support following Tommy John surgery. These elbow braces manage the range of motion, control mitigation, and prevents hyperextension, which can all be associated with the reconstruction of Tommy John surgery.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Tommy John Surgery, Rehab, and Elbow Braces_268227.aspx
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Author Resource :
The author has an immense knowledge on elbow brace. Know more about hard elbow brace, elbow braces related info in his website.
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Keywords :
elbow braces, hard elbow brace, elbow brace,
Category :
Health and Fitness
:
Health and Fitness
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