Something that everyone takes for granted as fact but most people would probably not be able to explain how or why it happens is broken bones healing on their own. When a person breaks a bone, the process of protecting it and healing begins instantly. This process starts with inflammation, “Inflammation starts immediately after the bone is fractured and lasts for several days. When the bone is fractured there is bleeding into the area, leading to inflammation and clotting of blood at the fracture site. This provides the initial structural stability and framework for producing new bone” (Foot Health). The most obvious sign for a broken bone is inflammation and swelling, even a sprained ankle will swell up a lot to protect the affected area. When I broke my foot, it swelled up so much that is was very clear that something was going on there. The second part of the bone healing process is bone production. “Bone production begins when the clotted blood formed by inflammation is replaced with fibrous tissue and cartilage (known as “soft callus”). As healing progresses, the soft callus is replaced with hard bone (known as “hard callus”), which is visible on x-rays several weeks after the fracture” (Foot Health). It is important for the bone to completely heal before being put through any stress that could re-injure it. The fibrous tissue and soft callus can obviously be re-broke and damaged further because the bone is not fully recovered yet. The final step in the bone healing process is bone remodeling. “Bone remodeling, the final phase of bone healing, goes on for several months. In remodeling, bone continues to form and becomes compact, returning to its original shape. In addition, blood circulation in the area improves. Once adequate bone healing has occurred, weight-bearing (such as standing or walking) encourages bone remodeling” (Foot Health). The bone remodeling phase still occurs after the cast comes off, as the bone is molded to how a person walks and moves.

So yes, our bones can go through normally a six to eight week process and heal on their own if they are immobilized but what makes them so special? Here’s a few, “Pound for pound, bone is stronger than concrete.  The strength to weight ratio of bone is found in no other natural material on earth.  Almost half of our bone mass is soft and alive, allowing them to bend.  Every seven years a healthy human body completely replaces every bone cell” (Bone Strength). Our bones and skeleton system are extremely unique and complex structures that allow us to move in different ways while also protecting vital organs from injury. The only time that we really hear about bones or notice anything about our own bones is when they break or something happens to them. By only paying attention to the negative aspect of bones, it can be easy to forget just how strong they are. Bones are not all created equal either, there is not a certain amount of force or pressure to break a bone. Smaller bones will break more easily than larger bones, and aspects of someone’s diet like calcium intake will also help effect how strong someone’s bones are.

Another aspect of bone healing and recovery that I was curious about is do bones actually heal to be stronger than they were before? I have heard this theory somewhere before and believed it to be true without knowing for sure if this was accurate. Dr. Amaral states that “’The area that’s healing is undergoing rapid mineralization, but because you can’t use it, the rest of the bone is demineralized.’ As a result, there may be a brief period in the healing process when the fracture site is stronger than the surrounding bone. But they later reach equal strength, and the fracture site is no more or less likely to break again. Dr. Amaral said that in studies in which healed bones were subjected to bending and twisting forces, the repaired bones were capable of breaking anywhere, including the fracture site. ‘They never comment that it’s stronger or weaker than the rest of the bone,’ he said” (O’Connor 2010).   So while the bone is healing it will be stronger than it was before but only for a short period of time, the bone will not actually continue to be stronger after the injury than it was before the injury. As Professor Tim Skerry says, over time, that thick piece [of bone] will remodel away (Science Questions). This could explain where the idea of bones heal stronger than they were before after breaking them comes from. Also just hearing that a bone is not any more likely to fracture after being fractured before, could be confused with the false idea of the bone being stronger than it was before the fracture.  In conclusion, bones allow us to do some amazing things and prevent a lot of harm from being done to our bodies.  Also it was beneficial to learn the truth about bone healing and that the idea that bones heal stronger than they were before the fracture is a myth, they heal as strong as they were before.

Image from: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100428/full/news.2010.209.html