# Do bones scar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-bones-scar/777641 "2017-01-20T17:35:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-bones-scar/777641/1 "2017-01-20T17:35:09Z")
If you have a crack or a tooth mark or something in a bone, does it completely go away when the bone heals? Or is there a mark left over? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-bones-scar/777641/2 "2017-01-20T17:43:43Z")
[Bone remodeling.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_remodeling) If you ever watch one of those forensics TV shows (like the conveniently-named “Bones”) they can use such “scars” to get a clue about somebody’s injury history. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-bones-scar/777641/3 "2017-01-20T17:54:56Z")
Some more info: [http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/modern\_forensicfile.html](http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/modern_forensicfile.html) That’s an article from the Smithsonian showing how they can use the bones of a person to tell a story about past injuries. Bone damage should (almost?) always leave a trace. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-bones-scar/777641/4 "2017-01-20T18:10:56Z")
Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-bones-scar/777641/5 "2017-01-20T20:39:58Z")
The scars on Terri Schiavo’s bones were a huge controversy. Some said they were caused by her husband Michael abusing her, though there was NO record of abuse and no claims of abuse until he was trying to get her feeding tube removed, and the scars were constantly with actions taken to revive a person. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-bones-scar/777641/6 "2017-01-20T22:36:44Z")
Tangent: Can near-breaks and near-cracks cause this kind of bone scarring? Thinking of clumsy accidents such as walking into a bench and thus sustaining sharp, painful blows to the shins. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-bones-scar/777641/7 "2017-01-20T22:56:14Z")
It depends if those blows cause actual bone damage or only surface (flesh) damage (like a bruise). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-bones-scar/777641/8 "2017-01-20T23:40:10Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It depends if those blows cause actual bone damage or only surface (flesh) damage (like a bruise). Ask a medieval knight about that. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-bones-scar/777641/9 "2017-01-21T00:59:32Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Tangent: > > Can near-breaks and near-cracks cause this kind of bone scarring? Thinking of clumsy accidents such as walking into a bench and thus sustaining sharp, painful blows to the shins. My mom got hit in collarbone with a bat during a childhood game of softball. The bone didn’t break, but she has a sizeable bony callus on the bone there.