how do bones (like ribs) get bruised?

Question

i just don’t get it. they’re bones. it’s really confusing, it makes sense that skin bruises, but bones?

In: 7

Answer 1

Your bones have a few different parts, an outer membrane, an extensive meshwork and so on. When there’s an injury to one or more of these that causes swelling, fluid buildup, pain, but there isn’t a fracture… that’s a “bone bruise.” Remember that bones are complex living tissues, from that outer membrane to the inner marrow. A severe bone bruise does involve damage to the same network of bone that would be damaged in a break, but in a break the whole structure is broken, in a bruise there’s much more limited damage.