Broken bones

[thaiboxerken]

The claim is that broken bones heal back harder and stronger. I don't really think this is true though. Also along with this claim is that punching sand and then pebbles... like in kung fu movies, increases bone density of the knuckles and fist.

Is there and substance to these claims?

[CFLarsen]

Originally posted by thaiboxerken
The claim is that broken bones heal back harder and stronger. I don't really think this is true though. Also along with this claim is that punching sand and then pebbles... like in kung fu movies, increases bone density of the knuckles and fist.

Is there and substance to these claims?

Yes, I'm pretty sure there is. The break heals into something that is thicker than the original bone, thereby making it stronger.

[thaiboxerken]

Originally posted by CFLarsen
Yes, I'm pretty sure there is. The break heals into something that is thicker than the original bone, thereby making it stronger.

You're pretty much repeating the claim.

I'm wondering if what you say is actually true, or if it's myth.

[Yaotl]

I always thought this was true too, but according to this (http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Bone_fractures?open) , bones don't form scar tissue. It just heals into normal bone.

[The Don]

Is it a case of can't google or won't google ?

From the fda (http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/396_bone.html) seems that it might

[Dragonrock]

According to a show on The Learning Channel called Impact bones aren't solid, they are a matrix of triangles. When you break a bone the break is fixed with solid bone. Then, over a period of several years tiny cells called ostioblasts [sp?] carve the solid bone back into the matrix.

We break thousands of these tiny bone bits through normal use every day and they are rebuilt. If you continually break one area then that area will be built back stronger. By punching something you encourage this buildup just like exercising a muscle.

[Yaotl]

Originally posted by The Don
Is it a case of can't google or won't google ?

From the fda (http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/396_bone.html) seems that it might

Bah, the one link i didn't click because I thought the title wouldn't have anything to do with it :(

[thaiboxerken]

So, it's not a certainy that the bone will heal harder and stronger. According to the FDA site.

According to a show on The Learning Channel called Impact bones aren't solid, they are a matrix of triangles.

I don't trust the Learning Channel to provide facts.

[chance]

Bone is alive and in a continuous state of building and breaking down. Astronauts have a problem with bone loss during long periods of weightlessness because it appears that bone building is a response to stresses (gravity, exercise). Without the stresses, bone breakdown continued unopposed. It would seem reasonable then, that lots of exercise strengthens bone.

[thaiboxerken]

Whether it's reasonable or not is not in question, but rather.. is it evident.

[chance]

thaiboxerken Whether it's reasonable or not is not in question, but rather.. is it evident Hmmm, poor choice of words on my part, the only evidence I’m aware of is that the Astronauts bones do recover after returning to earth and that exercise in space does slow the bone depletion.

[Prolix]

In general, the callus that "heals" the fracture is larger in diameter than the the original bone and therefore is "stronger" than the original fracture site. In adults it doesn't remodel much (i.e. doesn't shrink back to original size) and therefore remains stronger pretty much forever, in the sense that a new stress will cause the next fracture to occur away from the old.

The recovery from osteoporosis, eg of astronauts, is a different process than healing of fractures.

The phenomenon of bone strengthening in response to graded stressing is real. The name for it is Wolf's law.

Bone is pretty much the only tissue that truly heals, in that it fully reconstitutes its microarchitecture and cellularity. Other tissues like skin, or liver merely scar across with fairly inert fibrous tissue.

[Prolix]

And btw the scar strength of skin is only something like eighty percent as strong as the original skin. So try not to tear your knuckle skin when you're breaking blocks.

[thaiboxerken]

So the bone heals stronger, however, that part of the bone is harder than the rest of the bone, right? Do you think that could make it a little easier to break the rest of the bone, like a pre-existing flaw?

Also, do you think that hitting bags of sand will cause enough stress or microbreaks to actually strengthen the fist/knuckles?

[Khonshu]

Probably not - but it will cause tissue ossification, which is a buildup of calcium deposits in the surrounding tissues (tendons & muscles). You can see the calcium "cloud" around the repeatedly damaged joints in an x-ray. Eventually, the tissues begin losing flexibility and you have trouble making a fist, or in my case, bending your toes.

That, and arthritis at a young age (I was 30 when I found I had arthritis).

I'm not a doctor, just a patient.

[thaiboxerken]

I personally don't think it will myself, but martial art "experts" tend to think so.. especially in the Karate and Kung Fu disciplines.

[Ohmer]

I don't know what repeatedly punching something hard will really do to your hand. This guy claims to have done a lot of it.

Grand Master Pan (http://www.grandmasterpan.com)

I think the picture says enough. It would be interesting to get the details of exactly what he did to get his hand to look like that.

[thaiboxerken]

Now that's just gross looking.

[Dogwood]

If I recall correctly, (and I probably don't) stress on bone from impacts, such as punching, creates a piezo-electric effect that encourages bone cell growth, making the bones denser.

[stingy get]

IIRC Master pan has a metal plate on the wall in his house which he has to strike hundreds of times a day. He aso carries around a small metal plate which he continually hits his knuckles against.