Neuro Performance Rehab (formerly Dallas Peak Performance and Rehab) continues to astound the baseball community as it successfully eliminated its 60th case of Tommy John Surgery this past week. But it’s the post Tommy John surgery patients that are starting to take notice.
MIAMI - Sept. 11, 2015 - Once meant to be a season ending dilemma that would keep a player out for more than a year, Neuro Performance Rehab (www.NeuroPerformanceRehab.com) and their head therapist, Paula Wallem, seem to have found the antidote that not only saves the player from Tommy John surgery, but saves their season and in a lot of cases their career as well. In researching this accomplishment further, the 60 cases of Tommy John Surgery eliminated seems to be unprecedented, with no other U.S. based sports medical group or clinics even remotely approaching this success. And with Tommy John Surgery still on the rise, will Neuro Performance Rehab finally be the solution that slows its rapid ascension? Managing director Mark McClure seems to think so.
“Unless the ligament is cut in half, there is no reason a player should go under the knife for UCL surgery until they have at least met with us first. Because I will tell them first and foremost it is not the UCL that is the issue, the problem is coming from somewhere else and until we treat the origin of what is causing the UCL pain, all the rehab, ice, rest, stim and surgeries in the world will not fix it. Your muscles act as shock absorbers. Take the shocks off your car you ruin your car. Take the shocks off your body you ruin your frame. That is what happens in almost all UCL and labrum injuries. The muscles are not turning on fast enough to absorb force due to a neurological disconnect or better known as scar tissue. The brain is sending a signal for the pitchers arm to absorb and create force when they throw, but the signal is caught up in the scar tissue so that force goes to areas of the body not meant to absorb force, in this case the UCL. This is a neurological issue not a physiological issue and that’s how we treat it and why we are hugely successful in eliminating the need for Tommy John Surgery. With our patented ARP Wave technology and proprietary Tommy John Surgery Elimination protocols we are able to locate these disconnects immediately, eliminate them and have the player back on the mound pain free, symptom free in less than 10 days in almost all cases. Surgery avoided”, McClure stated.
McClure states that his clinics have perfected the ARP Wave Tommy John Surgery elimination protocols and that their success rate is close to 97% and just as high with their extensive and growing NFL clientele. While there are plenty of skeptics out there that still question how they are able to do what they do without studies to back it up, they are building a steady, growing fan base.
“My son Anthony had been suffering from shoulder pain for a approximately one year, severe inflammation of his right labrum. We were told by the doctor to ice and rest, but when he returned the pain returned. Absolutely nothing worked. We decided to shut him down from all throwing activities. When at home I was approached by a former coach of Anthony’s who highly recommended Neuro Performance Rehab. We decided to sign up for the 10 sessions. On day one Anthony threw a pitch with a pain scale level of 8 out of a possible 10. On that same day after one session Anthony threw another pitch and had a pain level of 4. After 4 sessions the pain level was zero. After 10 sessions Anthony threw 50 plus pitches at 100% of his ability with zero pain. He only stopped because of exhaustion. Two weeks from starting his sessions Anthony is fully participating in all activities for his high school team. How this is not in very high school, college and Major League locker room is mind boggling,” stated Luis Rodriguez or Boca Raton, Florida.
McClure is adamant that post Tommy John surgery the problem is still there as the origin of what caused the injury in the first place is still untreated. He may have a point. In Stephanie Bells, ESPNonline article about Tommy John Surgery she stated that “all we hear about are success stories of Tommy John Surgery while the others are swept under the rug”…
Stephanie Bells, ESPN article piece;
What about Matt Harvey's teammate, Jeremy Hefner? He had Tommy John surgery two months before Harvey, but then re-tore his ligament and underwent a second surgery in 2014. Or Cory Luebke? He had Tommy John surgery in 2012. After enduring multiple setbacks in his recovery, he underwent his second Tommy John surgery in 2014.Or Joey Devine? It took him two years to return from Tommy John surgery in 2009 -- only to suffer re-injury in 2012 followed by a second surgery. He hasn't pitched since.
No one talks about them. Maybe it's time we did.
"You hear about guys who do well," said Dr. Chris Ahmad, the New York Yankees' team physician and the author of several studies relating to Tommy John surgery. "The guys who don't come back tend to fall out of the conversation."
Does McClure have a point?
“I have said it once and I will say it again. Tommy John Surgery does nothing but repair a torn or damaged ligament. That’s it. Period. The surgeon does a great job and does what he/she is paid to do. The origin of the problem, however, is still there. The pockets of scar tissue that are impeding the signal from the brain to fire the muscles are still present. Force is still going to the UCL and no amount of physical therapy, rest, ice, stim, working on pitching mechanics or strength training in the world will fix it. Coaches and pitching experts talk about fixing their (pitchers) “mechanics”. For what? Why? What good is that going to do if they are still throwing a baseball with shocks that are not working? Then these pitching experts wonder why the pain is still there. This is a neurological issue not a physical one. Treat them neurologically first, clean up those disconnects so the muscles can fire appropriately like they were meant to do than worry about strengthening and mechanics. Until you do, all that other stuff is an utter waste of time. Period. End of story”, McClure added.
Baseballheatmaps.com seems to back what McClure is saying. In the ESPN article by Bells, it stated that in 2014 alone, of the 20 Tommy John surgeries performed on Major League pitchers, 11 of those had to be revisited. An astounding 55% within the first year. Bell goes onto say that much of the research on revisions has been done by Stan Conte, vice president of medical services for the Los Angeles Dodgers. After spending countless hours studying data related to Tommy John surgeries -- both primary and revisions -- the number that grabbed Conte's attention was the spike in revisions over the past three years.
"We've seen as many revisions from 2012 through 2014 as we had in the entire prior decade," Conte said
Bell added that the recent willingness of pitchers to undergo revision surgery is interesting, given that revisions have been reported as being less successful than first-time Tommy John procedures.
The Bell/ESPN article continues to state that of the 11 MLB pitchers who underwent repeat procedures in 2014, more than one-third of them (45 percent) were less than three years removed from their original surgery. Considering the rehab process following Tommy John surgery ranges from 12-18 months, it would suggest this subset of pitchers had not been back at performance level for more than a year (and in several cases never returned to their previous level of performance) before requiring a second surgery.
One Atlantic Coast Conference, Division I starting pitcher who wanted to remain anonymous as he didn’t want MLB scouts to know he had arm issues in the past, had this to say;
“I was scheduled to go under the knife for TJ surgery in mid 2014 but had heard about the success McClure was having from a top agent, so I gave his therapy a shot first. Night and day from anything else I had ever experienced. I was pain free, symptom free and throwing max velocity within a week and in 15 days the MRI came back clean. No surgery needed and it was awesome. My good friend had the same situation, almost identical and unbelievably decided on the surgery, even after seeing the success I had. He is still in pain, still rehabbing, still feeling tightness and far from 100%. Scouts are now weary and his career is in jeopardy.”
McClure gave this explanation.
“We get numerous post Tommy John cases 1,2 even 3 years after they have gone under the knife, complaining about pain, stiffness, etc. Once I tell them the science behind what we do and why they are still in pain, their mouth drops but they get it. They ask me why the heck they are they doing all these PT exercises with bands and applying stim and ice when they could be doing this program with us and get back immediately. What’s even sadder is when they said they had wish they had found us earlier. That’s what kills me the most. That we could have saved them from all this, I want to say crap, they have been going through and are still going through. That’s why it’s my mission to get the word out there that there are options to TJ surgery. There are options to labrum surgery and you don’t have to miss a season. We can have you back in most cases in under 10 days by treating the origin of what is causing the pain. Our track record speaks for itself. Hopefully that track record is enough to get more people to approach us so we can save more seasons and careers”, McClure ended.
McClure says that they are now branching out and assisting teams as a whole and that has worked out well thus far, both for Neuro Performance Rehab and the teams. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) After taking the entire Lynn University Baseball Team through his protocols last year, they finished the season with an unprecedented and shocking zero injuries. In researching this we found no other team in NCAA or NAIA history able to go an entire season injury free, especially a pitching staff. If the 60 cases of TJ surgery elimination doesn’t open the eyes of Major League Baseball, that most certainly will. Question is, will they listen? If they don’t, it won’t be because of McClure’s lack of outspoken passion.
Todd Stevens
MMI
214-417-1218
[email protected]
200 Biscaybe Blvd Way, Suite 3604
Miami, FL 33131