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The Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL)

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To fully understand the so called Tommy John injury you will have to know what the UCL is. (Carofino, 2017, para. 1) “The Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) is a structure that is critical for medial elbow stability (the inside of the elbow). The UCL is a triangular, thick section of tissue that stabilizes the arm bone (humerus) and the ulna.” The UCL provides the most support for the elbow when throwing and is the biggest ligament connecting the forearm and upper arm. The UCL can be loosened by stretching because it is a ligament and it can become tight as well. This ligament is not a very complex structure itself. As you can see in the picture this is really the only major ligament in the elbow. So you can imagine why many elbow injuries come …show more content…
Just like how everybody has a different way of writing or even walking. The mechanics of throwing a baseball are very simple. Langer, Fadale, Hulstyn (2006) does an excellent job explaining the throwing mechanics of throwing a baseball.
There are six phases of throwing: (a) wind up; (b) early cocking; (c) late cocking; (d) acceleration; (e) deceleration; (f) follow through. The combination of large valgus loads initiated in the late cocking phase with the rapid elbow extension generated in acceleration produces compression overload laterally, shear stress in the posterior compartment, and tensile overload medially. This phenomenon, termed “valgus extension overload syndrome”, forms the basic pathophysiological model behind most common elbow injuries in the throwing athlete. (Para. …show more content…
The tear is just like any other tear in a ligament. The ligament just spreads apart and becomes two smaller ligaments. But since that ligament holds both bones in the arm together it hurts to throw because there is nothing holding they together. You will experience pain when using your arm in an overhead position, soreness in the inside edge of your elbow, minor swelling along the inside of your arm, possible numbness and tingling in your arm, instability at your elbow joint. (Garrison, 2017, Para. 3) Looking at multiple sources the symptoms seem to be accurate. Interviews from previous player who have suffered this injury say they felt the same pain and symptoms as the symptoms in the

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