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Tommy John Surgery in throwing athlete
| Posted on September 12, 2018 at 10:34 AM |
Tommy
john surgery is the repair of ulnar collateral ligament of elbow. It is named
after the pitcher from LA dodgers to get this surgery done in 1974 for the
first time. This
is a very big topic with lot of myths like after surgery you could throw even
faster and harder which has been proven completely wrong. Recently
as the need for speed has risen among young athletes these surgeries are
becoming more common. Not
only the need for throwing hard but also doing so without proper mechanics,
without proper warm up and proper conditioning is also a contributing
factor. Role
of throwing curve balls at an early age before skeletal maturity has been regarded
a contributing factor but
certain researches are finding that there might be no correlation. see
reference: If
you walk around the baseball fields during the baseball season and watch
pitchers you could see the variety of pitchers throwing different ways with
ultimate main goal of throwing hard. Not
only the young pitchers are at risk of causing damage to the ulnar collateral
ligament (UCL) but the Major league pitchers are also in the news frequently
even though they have full squad of sports physicians, trainers etc. My
perception is that there should be focus upon full body conditioning, special
focus upon throwing mechanics and proper routine before pitching in the game
especially in the cold evenings. As
the biometrics is taking over our sports where teams select bigger kids
especially hitters, young pitchers strive to throw harder hurting themselves in
the process sometimes. Advancement in equipment like composite bats and other
material is also making harder for pitchers so they want to throw harder to
get ahead in the game. There
are some steps taken by certain organizations to change the bat composition to
maintain a balance b/w bat and ball. Eventually
the onus is on coaches and parents to talk to their young pitchers if they
notice any early signs of discomfort before the serious damage is done. As
some young pitchers would not complain even if they are hurting. One needs to
be a good coach to spot these signs. Some
signs could be shaking of the pitching arm after every pitch, sudden loss of
speed and accuracy, sudden change in throwing mechanics to compensate for the
painfully joint etc. Injury
to throwing arm could be minimized by proper warm up before pitching, adequate
resting period b/w days of pitching. There
are certain group muscles of shoulder and forearm needs to be strengthened to
put less strain at the Ulnar collateral Ligament on the medial inner side of
elbow. Please
talk to an Occupational therapist Physical therapist with experience in upper
extremity rehab. to evaluate your son/daughter as soon as the pain develops.
They can guide you with proper rehab. program to make faster recovery and them
back on the field with confidence and help them achieve full potential
safely. Arun
Sharma Occupational
Therapist / Certified Hand Therapist |
Categories: baseball, baseball pitching, elbow pain, fitness and exercise, hand and occupational therapy blog, hand pain, neck pain, occupational therapy, pain, pediatrics
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