The Rothman Blog Squad
-
Major League Baseball and the second opinion
Friday, 17 May 2013The Phillies expect to have some information about the particulars and the severity of Roy Halladay’s shoulder injury sometime today. The ace right-hander admitted to feeling discomfort in his shoulder after Sunday’s start against the Miami Marlins, and spent yesterday visiting with Dr. Lewis Yocum in California.
Read more »
Phillies team physician and Sports Doc panelist Michael Ciccotti, M.D., says he doesn’t take it personally when a player asks to get a second opinion on an injury. In fact, he encourages the practice, and does everything in his power to ensure the player receives the best possible opinion. -
Protecting pitchers: what J.A. Happ's injury means to MLB
Friday, 17 May 2013Last night, former Phillies pitcher J.A. Happ was struck in the head by a line drive while pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Read more »
This morning, Happ is in stable condition and undergoing tests at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Perhaps most troubling, however, were this morning’s reports and headlines that referred to Happ as the latest pitcher to sustain such an injury. He is the fourth MLB pitcher to be struck in the head since September. What can the league do to prevent or lessen the likelihood of further instances? -
NFL Draft: a team doctor's role
Friday, 17 May 2013In late February, the medical staffs of all 32 teams make the annual trek to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine. Approximately 335 college football players are invited to the Combine. The players have 15 minute interviews with the coaches and GMs, they participate in various workouts but the most important aspect of the Combine is the medical examinations. The athletes could refuse to workout but they cannot refuse a physical examination.
Read more »
The players go through a medical and orthopaedic examination. There are six orthopaedic rooms each with 5-6 teams per room. The original Combine was made up of the Eagles, Bears, Lions, Steelers and Dolphins only. The NFL has kept these teams together in the same room and recently added the Texans. The Eagles do not give me a list of players that they are specifically interested in the draft, they want me to exam every player the same because you never know how the draft will progress. -
Why are concussions worse in females?
Friday, 17 May 2013Women have been increasing in numbers in participation in all of sport. Women's soccer, basketball, lacrosse and many other contact sports are seeing increasing number of participants of all ages. When looking at data comparing male versus female concussion injury rates in sports where both sexes play the same sport, females clearly predominate.
Read more »
In line with this rise in participation, many more pre-adolescent and adolescent athletes have been participating more in the sport of competitive cheerleading—an activity that has become more akin to gymnastics than traditional cheerleading. Injuries in this sport are demonstrating some of the susceptibility of women to concussion as ther -
Tommy John surgery–fact and fiction
Friday, 17 May 2013In baseball, perhaps one of the most devastating elbow injuries involves the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL)—the same injury that has sidelined numerous professional players such as Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals. When UCL injuries such as partial or complete tearing occur baseball players, particularly pitchers, are often unable to throw competitively. For mild injuries, nonoperative treatment may be successful. For high grade partial or complete tears, often surgery is required—otherwise known as “Tommy John” surgery.
Read more »
This revolutionary procedure was first performed by Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974 on then Dodgers pitcher Tommy John. This reconstruction of the UCL allowed John to return to professional baseball for arguably the best years of his career. Since then, this famous procedure has been performed tens of thousands of times on all types of athletes. Those procedures have lead to all types of “fact and fiction.”
Let’s review some of the facts about this surgery… -
The World Of A Phillies Doctor: The Day Is Done
Thursday, 02 May 2013The day is done. The good news is no real issues on the injury front. Dr. Ciccotti asks Sheridan if he would like to go to dinner. They go back and forth on a location and settle on a local grill nearby. They are now dressed casually. No Phillies gear anywhere insight. They sit anonymously eating… talking just like the other patrons.
Read more »
The talk turns to the difficulties their more famous patients would have in a similar situation.
“It’s really hard for the guys to be on the road so much and then to come home and be out to eat with their families and be noticed and interrupted,” says Ciccotti. “During a good year they are working almost non-stop from February to November. They have pregame and postgame and treatments and travel. It’s hard for them to finally get a nice night out with their family, to catch up, to be normal, to have a private life.” -
The World Of A Phillies Doctor: Treating A Common Baseball Side Effect
Monday, 29 April 2013The game has ended with the home team on the losing end of the 7-6 score. The traffic in the training room is picking up. One of the players comes in with a lump on the back of his hand.
Read more »
Dr. Ciccotti asks him to come into his office. “I’ll get the needle.”
The lump on his hand is a ganglion cyst. It is one of the numerous side effects of being a professional ball player.
Dr. Ciccotti tells the player to sit down and hold out his hand. The player knows the drill. Apparently this is not the first time he needs it drained. -
The World Of A Phillies Doctor: On Call In The Training Room
Friday, 26 April 2013If an injury were to occur during the game, Dr. Ciccotti would be notified immediately through a call or text from Scott Sheridan, the Phillies Head Athletic Trainer. The two have known each other a long time and the protocol for communication has been long since standardized. Thankfully no calls or text comes and Dr. Ciccotti finds Sheridan in the trainer’s room watching the game on TV.
Read more »
Right then Chase Utley lifts a towering two run home run, his fourth of the season to make it 6-5 Boston. Next batter is Ryan Howard and he launches one deep. Tie ball game. -
The World Of A Phillies Doctor: How Baseball Affects The Body From The Ground Up
Wednesday, 24 April 2013Medical advances in the treatment of athletes aren’t confined to injections, new diagnostic tools and surgical techniques.
Read more »
In some cases advancement is found working from the ground up.
“Overhead throwing athletes tend to focus on their upper body and arms when injured when in fact it all really starts from ground up,” says Ciccotti. “Our sports medicine team believes in the “kinetic chain theory” of sport. The theory holds that any motion starts with your feet on the ground. When you throw, energy is generated from your feet, up through the hips and core of the body, and into the upper extremity. When a throwing injury occurs we don’t look at solely the elbow or shoulder, but the whole athlete. It could be that the athlete’s feet are too close together or they take a bad first step. -
The World Of A Phillies Doctor: Patient Confidentiality and Medical Innovation
Tuesday, 23 April 2013Dr. Ciccotti works on the major league players well after the first pitch of the game is thrown. Not everyone plays every spring training game, but almost all work out or receive treatment on a game day even if they’re not playing. Who is hurt and how badly is very sensitive information, trade secrets in a game with revenues reaching into the billions.
Read more »
“One thing that average fans don’t realize is that these players, despite their fame and notoriety, are patients,” says Ciccotti after his work on the players is complete.
“They have all the same rights and privileges as any patient and one of them is privacy. I understand the fan’s frustration when there is an injury that can’t be discussed for whatever reason. I know it’s important to them. But just like any normal patient, there are laws to protect that information. Those same laws apply to the guys out here on the field. To be honest, I think that Ruben (Amaro) and Scott (Proefock) do an outstanding job of keeping the media and fans informed. It’s very sensitive information, and I have the utmost respect for the law and certainly my patients.”
Sign up to receive e-mail updates from Rothman Institute