What is tommy john surgery?

Question

I heard that on baseball tonight when they said that Olsen guy from Marlins was great just coming back from it, and of coarse Chris Carpenter

just had it.

What is it, how do you know you need it, and who is tommy john?

thanks

Answer 1

Tommy John Surgery is ligament replacement surgery that is usually performed on the throwing arm of a pitcher.  It usually takes at least 10 months to a year to recover from it.  Sometimes, pitchers never fully recover from the surgery.  A player usually is told by a high ranked doctor that he/she needs the surgery.  This is usually after an X-Ray and MRI is taken.  

Tommy John was a famous pitcher for the Yankees and was the first person to ever have the surgery performed on himself.  Therefore, the ligament replacement surgery was named Tommy John Surgery.

Answer 2

Tommy John surgry is elbow surgury and is named after Tommy John who was a good pitcher and one of the first to successfully have the surgury.

Answer 3

This should help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_John_...

It's becoming more and more common. I've also heard of kids getting it done early, as it is believed that you'll come back stronger than before.

Answer 4

Its surgery on an elbow ligament, which is often damage in pitchers.  Tommy John was one of the all time great pitchers in the MLB.

Answer 5

Nothing against the person asking the question, I"m sure he's just a young kid, but does it bother any of you die hard baseball fans that there are baseball people who have no idea who Tommy John is?

I just shake my head in shame when I read stuff like that.

BTW, why don't you Blyleven supporters take a look at John's stats. If Bly goes in, John should be in - in fact, he won MORE games after his surgery than before!

Answer 6

It is rotator cuff surgery.

Tommy John pitched for numerous teams back in the 60's 70's and 80's, He had that surgery in his 30's and went on to pitch until age 45. He was the first pitcher to have it done so it was named after him.

Answer 7

Tommy John is one of the greatest yankees pitchers ever and the first to have this surgery

It is surgery on the arm

Answer 8

It is ligament replacement surgery for your elbow. It was first performed on Tommy John, hence it's name. I believe they take a piece of ligament or tendon from the leg and attach it in the elbow joint to replace the bad ligament. The theory is that the elbow is actually stronger once the player has completely rehabbed from the surgery which can take anywhere from 9 month to a year and a half depending on the player and the intensity of the rehab.

When ligaments break the victim most often describes hearing it 'pop'. But you won't know if you need the surgery until it has been assessed by a physician who will probably get an MRI of the joint to properly evaluate the damage. If you are not a professional pitcher the doctor may recommend a less drastic alternative to surgery.

Answer 9

most have good answers, but a little extra nugget...The ligament can be taken from the wrist as well as the leg.  

Answer 10

It's a surgical procedure done on your Ulnar Collateral Ligament (aka UCL), thats a ligament on your arm (around the elbow), where they graft (that means they take) a piece of another ligament, like from your foot, and put it in your elbow. Alot of pitchers have to have this surgery because the constant strain put on a pitcher's arm. And it was named after a pitcher, Tommy John, a great pitcher, who coincidentally was the first person to get this surgery.