Fractures to major bones often heal slowly or incompletely, especially in older people, and large bone injuries do not repair naturally. By comparison, rib bones show an unusual capacity to regrow and repair themselves even when a large portion is damaged.
However, when they removed rib cartilage but left its perichondrium, the missing sections entirely repaired within one to two months.
Most bones in mammals display a limited capacity for natural large-scale repair. The ribs are a notable exception, yet the source of their remarkable regenerative ability remains unknown.
Reports in humans have indicated that both the costal cartilage and bone will regenerate over time when this connective tissue is left intact.
Treatment of rib injuries
Treatment aims to relieve pain while the injury heals, which can take up to six weeks (in the case of fracture), and 12 weeks or more if the rib has been torn from the cartilage.
In most cases, a fractured rib will heal on its own in about six weeks. Doctors no longer prescribe compression wraps for rib fractures, because they can restrict breathing, leading to pneumonia, or even a partial lung collapse. Pain management is important, especially in the first few days after an injury.
Treatment. Treatment of costal cartilage fractures is typically conservative, consisting of rest, ice, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications. Athletes are usually restricted from a return to the sport until pain has significantly subsided, and the length of time required varies from 2 weeks to several months.
Fractures to major bones often heal slowly or incompletely, especially in older people, and large bone injuries do not repair naturally. By comparison, rib bones show an unusual capacity to regrow and repair themselves even when a large portion is damaged.
Ribs cannot be easily splinted or supported like other bones, so they're usually left to heal naturally. There's often no need for an X-ray.
When untreated, rib fractures will lead to serious short-term consequences such as severe pain when breathing, pneumonia and, rarely, death. Long-term consequences include chest wall deformity, chronic pain and decreased lung function.
Although most rib fractures do heal on their own, some don't. And patients with these nonunion rib fractures find themselves with few options. “There is a clear group of patients that benefit from surgical rib fixation after they break their ribs. Less is known about ribs that do not heal,” Eriksson noted.
You'll be surprised as to how much you could lose and still live. You can still have a fairly normal life without one of your lungs, a kidney, your spleen, appendix, gall bladder, adenoids, tonsils, plus some of your lymph nodes, the fibula bones from each leg and six of your ribs.
“The removal of ribs is a permanent procedure. Ribs do not grow back and cannot be replaced. Even under the care of a certified and experienced surgeon, it is a dangerous procedure and the risks of complications are high.
Congenital absence of the ribs is a relatively rare condition with very rare documented cases especially for the absence of upper ribs; it can be present as an isolated anomaly or part of many congenital anomalies like in “Poland Syndrome”.
We found that lateral region fractures caused more pain than anterior and posterior rib fractures. It is thought that the lateral chest wall rib fracture is the most affected part of respiration and body movement.
The fourth through 10th ribs are the most commonly fractured, while a fracture of ribs one through three is often associated with a high-energy mechanism of injury.
A few years back, Marilyn Manson had addressed rumours about him getting a part of the rib cage removed for a very specific reason.
It has been estimated that 5-8% normal people have only 11 pairs of ribs. When an underlying condition is present, the commonest found is trisomy 21. In those with trisomy 21, one-third of patients are missing their twelfth ribs, other causes of 11 rib pairs are cleidocranial dysplasia and campomelic dysplasia 1.
The incidence of rib fractures after CPR is reported in over 70% of CPR cases, with a mean number of 7.6 broken ribs per person (8). Despite their rarity, these fractures can result in fatal injuries such as cardiac laceration and pericardial tamponade (1,2).
Mild intercostal muscle strain commonly heals within a few days. Moderate strains may take 3 to 7 weeks to heal, and severe strains that involve a complete tear of the muscles can take longer. In general, most intercostal muscle sprains should heal within a 6-week time span.
Despite one misconception, there is no evidence that a bone that breaks will heal to be stronger than it was before. When a bone fractures, it begins the healing process by forming a callus at the fracture site, where calcium is deposited to aid rebuilding, said Dr. Terry D.
Rib cartilage damage has the potential to be very painful. It often leads to severe pain while taking deep breaths, and even more so while coughing. The most common cause of injuries to the rib cartilage is blunt force trauma.