It is known that Shohei Otani (29), who is considered the biggest free agent this winter, is having a painful daily life due to the extreme interest from local media.
According to a Japanese media report on the 9th, dozens of paparazzi are camped out in front of Ohtani’s home in Anaheim, near LA. They reportedly gathered to film Otani wearing a cast on his operated right elbow.
The media reported, ‘Previously, there were about 4 to 5 people watching with cameras, but recently the number has increased rapidly and reached 60 people.’
Because of this, Otani is experiencing great inconvenience in his daily life. He currently doesn’t do anything except for absolutely necessary work. It is said that when traveling to the hospital for rehabilitation treatment, a chase with the paparazzi takes place. When he attended a club event on the 30th of last month, he appeared with his clothes covering the surgical area.
Meanwhile, it is reported that Otani’s surgery cost amounts to $200,000 (about 270 million won). The price is 10 times higher than that of general elbow ligament repair (UCL, also known as Tommy John surgery).
Ohtani underwent surgery at the Cullen-Jove Orthopedic Clinic in LA on the 20th of last month. It was performed by the renowned Dr. Neil Elatrace. He is a world expert on shoulders, elbows, knees, etc. Not only major league players, including Ryu Hyun-jin, NBA, and NFL, but also famous Hollywood actors are customers. He is also the sister-in-law of Sylvester Stallone.
In the case of a typical UCL, the cost is known to be around $20,000. However, Otani’s case this time is a little different. According to reports from Japanese media, the procedure was performed using a cutting-edge method. Therefore, it is said that the cost of surgery was quite expensive.
Until now, surgery was performed by replacing the damaged ligament with another tendon from within the body. But this time, artificial ligaments were used. It is a technique called Internal Brace (UCL Internal Brace). This March, NFL San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy underwent this surgery.스포츠토토
The characteristic of this procedure is that the rehabilitation period is reduced by about half compared to the previous method. On the other hand, concerns were raised that the strength of the ligament may affect the bone in the transplanted area. The academic world reports that the problem has now been greatly improved. Therefore, Japanese media interpret Otani’s choice of this method as an early return and his will to continue practicing dual swords. Currently, the goal is to return (full-time) as a batsman next year and as a pitcher the year after.
Rehabilitation treatment (rather than actual deployment) is a 12-week program. This is also supervised by the surgeon, Dr. Elatrace, and is performed as a special therapy that restores the original motor ability by activating electrical signals in the surgical area.
Additionally, diet is essential for recovery. Above all, balanced intake of protein and various nutrients is important. Otani, who received help from a nutritionist during his time with the Nippon Ham Fighters, is known to have hired a new specialist locally after the surgery.
However, I need to eat out occasionally to change my mood, but that doesn’t happen at all. This means that people are naturally reluctant to go out, and because there are dozens of paparazzi camped out, they can’t even think about going out. In addition to the medical staff, the only people currently in contact are an interpreter (Ippei Mizuhara) and an agent. It is said that he communicates with his Angels colleagues every day through social media.