Do Broken Bones Actually Get Stronger After Healing? | Bone Myths Debunked

You might have heard that bones are stronger after they break, which sounds ridiculous, but for a short period of time, it might actually be true! Find out all about with Hank in a new episode of SciShow!

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[parallel]

what doesn't kill you either makes you stronger or leaves you with severe permanent trauma that requires years of therapy to get to a point where you can go about daily life with reasonable ease

[subpewds]

I am amazed how you never run out of ideas, without being boring or repetitive. Thank you for your awesome work!

[woopygoman]

Exercise is seriously underrated!
Reduced risk of cancer
Higher bone density (assuming high impact exercises are done)
Maintain and build new muscles
Low resting heart rate
Leaner body
Less sweating (in general)
Sharper mind
More happiness
Increased energy levels
Reduced risk of chronic diseases (like type 2 diabetes)
Healthy hormone levels
Skin looks better
Better sleep quality
Increased pain tolerance and therefore reduced pain perception
And this is just what I know... Imagine the other benefits we don't even know about!

[sylendraws]

If bones got stronger everytime they break, imagine how strong Deku’s bones would be

[TheCheeseman]

Aww, crap. I hate it when I find out that some fact I used to teach students was wrong. I even looked into this and found credible-seeming information about recalcified areas being thicker than existing bone.

I know that nobody can be expected to know everything, and we all make mistakes, but knowing that I unwittingly spread misinformation, even with the best of intentions, is a real punch to the gut.

[FlyingGospel]

Well my femur now has two massive titanium tubes in it mine probably is stronger now lol

[jim]

*Sticks and stones may break my bones*, but there is no evidence that bones are harder to break after they've fully healed from a fracture. In fact they might even be weaker. There is a brief moment a bone might be tougher while it's healing though. Which might be where this idea comes from. Usually the first step to healing a broken bone etc...

[browniesnofrownies]

I was born with glass bones and paper skin. Every morning I break my legs, and every afternoon I break my arms. At night, I lie awake in agony until my heart attacks put me to sleep.

[SupLuiKir]

Even if it were the case that bones got harder to break at the site of a previous break, path of least resistance means it would instead break right next to it, where there's still bone that has its normal toughness. If it were stronger, there'd be no way to accidentally break your bone in the exact same place twice.

[Master_Therion]

I broke my fishing pole. It is much stronger after putting it in a *cast.*
And before you ask how I broke it; many people drink when going fishing. But I was *plastered.*

[kamotetops]

How about Microfractures?
Combat Athletes have bigger bones on parts of their bodies they use the most.

[danyalahmed]

hello everyone who have ever got one of their bones broken

[UHFStation]

You should do a video on Wolff's law and how mini fractures make bones harder in Shaolin warriors? Also do bone spurs ever get reabsorb so the bones are normal shape that seeks less friction? I am 40 and have spur in my neck and sleeping is really quite uncomfortable. I wake up in pain often.

[lizanderson]

I broke my collar bone years ago, and there’s basically a lump of bone where it happened. I definitely assume that that spot is now more difficult to break now because it’s thicker 🤷🏼‍♀️

[joshuamirabal]

I think a video on how this works for ligaments would be interesting and why bones repair themselves better than ligaments.

[UGNAvalon]

“What doesn’t break you makes you stronger.”

Ha! Take that, crippling anxiety and stressful life experiences!

[Scott-J]

Glad to see you plugging Healthcare Triage. It is criminally under viewed. Dr. Carroll and company do excellent work not only in bringing us information, but also teaching how to approach research information and claims about health and medicine.

[anime]

I’m tired of things not killing me and making me stronger

[ragnkja]

I wish this brought up whether there’s a difference between breaking a bone as a child and breaking one as an adult. It’s always seemed obvious to me that a broken bone can’t heal stronger than it was before when the skeleton as a whole is no longer growing and developing, but “just” maintaining itself.

[PrimeAthos]

Hey @SciShow. This is a really cool video. I was wondering if you could prep a "weird types of blood cancer" month in honor of September's Blood Cancer awareness month. For people like me having these types of fractures is really really really bad because my body wants to make a bajillion more platelets than its supposed to... and that's on a good day. The result are bones that are all scarred on the inside (hemorrhagic) and that is without a "normal" break like the one in your graphics. Love your videos. Thank you so much!!!!