New Study Finds Majority Of Athletes Undergoing Tommy John Surgery Are Teens
(CBS) -- Before you sign your son up for fall baseball, you may want to listen to the results of a new study.
A study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine finds a 10 percent growth year-over-year in the number of high school athletes getting what's commonly called "Tommy John" surgery.
After looking at ulnar collateral ligament reconstructions performed between 2007 and 2011, author Dr. Charles Bush-Joseph found 56 percent of those going under the knife are 15 to 19 year olds.
Bush-Joseph is an orthopedic surgeon at Rush University Medical Center and the head team physician for the White Sox.
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He attributes the growing problem to young baseball players throwing too hard, too long and too often.
With the proliferation of traveling teams and fall-ball leagues in addition to little league, Bush-Joseph says pitchers are wearing down that ligament inside the elbow.
The best way to avoid it, he says, is rest.
He suggests baseball players take off at least three months a year.
Kids who play year-round are six or seven times more likely to need surgery than those who take a break for 3-6 months, Bush-Joseph says.
That doesn't mean no sports at all - just different ones.
Bush-Joseph says not only will that prevent physical fatigue, but emotional burnout as well.
