Update: Glasnow said he won’t have surgery for now, and instead will try to strengthen the area. He plans to see another doctor on Friday. "Just don’t throw for a while, but they also said no surgery," Glasnow said. "So I’m just going to try and rehab it and try to come back." Lets hope he can rehab from this and come back for the playoffs. The first order of business is to get that area to scar over. Then he will need to progressively work at stressing that area so it can become stronger.
I am a pitcher. I occasionally get elbow inflammation that does not allow my to extend my arm fully. Is this a sign of ucl damage/weakness? Or is this more generally just a matter of inflammation in that region? …..I once heard a story that when Nolan Ryan was in his 40’s he was debating getting Tommy John, but a doctor told him he had built up so much scar tissue around his elbow that his ucl would like remain in-tact? I am curious what your thoughts are? If you have time I would really appreciate a response. I just liked and subscribed. Thank you!
Hey doc! I commented on your Longoria injury, I’m the huge Rays fan!!! So after watching this video and your awesomeness, at what point is surgery necessary? What exactly would they operate on in a surgery like this? Could therapy and rehab be the best option? As far as this video and your awesome review, I’ve been to so many Rays game and do see exactly what you are talking about! I have season seats directly behind the catcher so I have an amazing view of the pitcher and see that when pitching, the pitchers arm, mostly fist, is actually behind the head and the palm of the hand is parallel with it as well. Imagine doing this at 98mph for 100-110 pitches as Tyler does. Crazy! Thanks for an awesome video!
For you and I conservative therapy would likely work. It's really time off that slow rehab that allows for scar tissue along the UCL to form again. So this would mean taking a break from pitching and starting back up slowly. Now in a pitcher with a partial tear this is tricky. Full tear = surgical. Partial tear, he can try rehab (there are some experimental things like PRP as well which may be able to help with healing), however if there is still instability despite therapy, surgeons are quicker to jump to surgery for professional pitchers. Like I had mentioned in the video, they get to forces that can really compromise the UCL when pitching 80 mph. And in many cases, the only way to make sure that that ligament is strong enough is to surgically fix it. With more time we will see what the team decides for Tyler. It could really go either way. Ps - thanks for the support!
Crazy. Seems like any player that comes near the White Sox goes down with a massive injury. We just lost Madrigal for the season today, as he had surgery on a proximal tendon tear on his hamstring running to first base. Similar scenario to Luis Robert, but a slightly different injury
How likely do you think it is that he successfully rehabs this and doesn’t need Tommy John? Is this something that has worked for pro baseball players b4?
Usually the tommy John is most commonly performed on pro pitchers since they are the ones likely to stress the joint enough to damage their UCL. In terms of his rehab. It really depends on how the next few weeks go.
Great question - it’s a tough one to answer. Really depends on how bad his symptoms are. Usually they start with conservative treatment, but if things are not responding then it’s surgical. If that’s the case it’s unlikely he will be back in September but it’s early to say right now.
Outstanding video! You walked the fine line between dumbing it down for the viewer or talking above our level of understanding perfectly. Now that he's started throwing again, it looks like he's intending to come back before the season ends. Is it realistic to expect him to return as a 5-6 inning starter or is that level of volume too risky for re-injuring his elbow?
Update: Glasnow said he won’t have surgery for now, and instead will try to strengthen the area. He plans to see another doctor on Friday.
"Just don’t throw for a while, but they also said no surgery," Glasnow said. "So I’m just going to try and rehab it and try to come back."
Lets hope he can rehab from this and come back for the playoffs. The first order of business is to get that area to scar over. Then he will need to progressively work at stressing that area so it can become stronger.
What does it mean to scar over ?
I am a pitcher. I occasionally get elbow inflammation that does not allow my to extend my arm fully. Is this a sign of ucl damage/weakness? Or is this more generally just a matter of inflammation in that region? …..I once heard a story that when Nolan Ryan was in his 40’s he was debating getting Tommy John, but a doctor told him he had built up so much scar tissue around his elbow that his ucl would like remain in-tact? I am curious what your thoughts are? If you have time I would really appreciate a response. I just liked and subscribed. Thank you!
Not being able to put your arm straight is not good I’ve had that before from pitching and it’s a sign
Hey doc! I commented on your Longoria injury, I’m the huge Rays fan!!! So after watching this video and your awesomeness, at what point is surgery necessary? What exactly would they operate on in a surgery like this? Could therapy and rehab be the best option? As far as this video and your awesome review, I’ve been to so many Rays game and do see exactly what you are talking about! I have season seats directly behind the catcher so I have an amazing view of the pitcher and see that when pitching, the pitchers arm, mostly fist, is actually behind the head and the palm of the hand is parallel with it as well. Imagine doing this at 98mph for 100-110 pitches as Tyler does. Crazy! Thanks for an awesome video!
For you and I conservative therapy would likely work. It's really time off that slow rehab that allows for scar tissue along the UCL to form again. So this would mean taking a break from pitching and starting back up slowly.
Now in a pitcher with a partial tear this is tricky. Full tear = surgical. Partial tear, he can try rehab (there are some experimental things like PRP as well which may be able to help with healing), however if there is still instability despite therapy, surgeons are quicker to jump to surgery for professional pitchers. Like I had mentioned in the video, they get to forces that can really compromise the UCL when pitching 80 mph. And in many cases, the only way to make sure that that ligament is strong enough is to surgically fix it.
With more time we will see what the team decides for Tyler. It could really go either way.
Ps - thanks for the support!
Crazy. Seems like any player that comes near the White Sox goes down with a massive injury. We just lost Madrigal for the season today, as he had surgery on a proximal tendon tear on his hamstring running to first base. Similar scenario to Luis Robert, but a slightly different injury
yea that must be super frustrating! this one is a tricky one, especially in a pitcher.
How likely do you think it is that he successfully rehabs this and doesn’t need Tommy John? Is this something that has worked for pro baseball players b4?
Usually the tommy John is most commonly performed on pro pitchers since they are the ones likely to stress the joint enough to damage their UCL. In terms of his rehab. It really depends on how the next few weeks go.
Do u think that if he is able to rehab this...without surgery he will be back by the middle of September?
Great question - it’s a tough one to answer. Really depends on how bad his symptoms are. Usually they start with conservative treatment, but if things are not responding then it’s surgical. If that’s the case it’s unlikely he will be back in September but it’s early to say right now.
Outstanding video! You walked the fine line between dumbing it down for the viewer or talking above our level of understanding perfectly. Now that he's started throwing again, it looks like he's intending to come back before the season ends. Is it realistic to expect him to return as a 5-6 inning starter or is that level of volume too risky for re-injuring his elbow?