Tommy John Surgery and Rehab

Tommy John is an elbow surgery that a lot of baseball players have undergone in the last 30+ years. Tommy John is just the nickname for the surgery. It is actually called ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction by doctors.

Tommy John was a former pitcher for the L.A. Dodgers and the first professional athlete to successfully undergo the operation. The surgery was done in 1974 by Dr. Frank Jobe.

The surgery is done by replacing a ligament in the medial elbow with a tendon from some where 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.

It took Tommy John 18 months to recover from the surgery he had in 1974 but he returned to baseball and pitched in the major leagues until 1989 at age 46.

Today the surgery only takes about an hour and full recovery takes about 10 - 12 months. One misconception that people have about Tommy John surgery is that after the surgery the pitcher will throw harder (faster) then they did before the surgery. There may be an incr