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I thought it was known that cartilage can regrow but it's just at such an incredibly slow pace due to lack of circulation that you can effectively say it doesn'

I thought it was known that cartilage can regrow but it's just at such an incredibly slow pace due to lack of circulation that you can effectively say it doesn't grow? Edit: after some googling I found this result > age 15 or 16 would be about the average age for bones to stop growing, so from that point on, there is no collagen regeneration in the cartilage. Your body, on its own, cannot regenerate the cartilage it loses in its adult years. https://regenexx.com/blog/does-cartilage-heal-on-its-own/ https://regenexx.com/blog/does-cartilage-heal-on-its-own/

thatcat 7y ago
That source is over simplifying; some bones and cartlidge are known to continue growing in adults - the jaw and ear lobes for example.
convery 7y ago
That does sound weird considering how many athletes develop issues later in life due to build up of cartilage. My friend, 66, for example did boxing in his late 20's and started getting issues in his 50's due to nasal-blockages, to the point where he now needs to drill away some of the cartilage to get rid of migraines and such..
- rjsw 7y ago
  Cauliflower ears in rugby players would be another example.
  - targonca 7y ago
    Cauliflower ears are caused by the ear cartilage dying off and being replaced by fibrous scar tissue. That's definitely not cartilage overgrowth.
- joncrane 7y ago
  True hyaline cartilage cannot "build up." The good stuff (intra articular) is a precious resource that you can only lose, not gain. The cartilage in your nose and ear are different, and besides, the stuff that's blocking your boxer friend's nose, and causing cauliflower ear is not really cartilage. It's fibrous growth which has a blood supply. It's your body trying to replace real cartilage with a poor substitute.
  - ChrisBland 7y ago
    Exactly, not all cartilage is the same. The good stuff doesn't come back unfortunately.
kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
They're selling a product that depends on you not knowing the truth. Medical hucksters routinely lie with facts.
MisterOctober 7y ago
I learned a little about this topic recently after a bad knee injury from running [torn meniscus] -- Blood supply does have a lot to do with healing-or-not -- taking the meniscus as an example, about 30% of the meniscus has a blood supply, the rest does not, so that if the injured part is of that 30%, it can actually heal, whereas if not, they can only clean it up and stitch it together like a rag doll --- [for the curious : I got lucky and my injury healed tolerably well on its own sans surgery]

thatcat 7y ago

That source is over simplifying; some bones and cartlidge are known to continue growing in adults - the jaw and ear lobes for example.

convery 7y ago

That does sound weird considering how many athletes develop issues later in life due to build up of cartilage. My friend, 66, for example did boxing in his late 20's and started getting issues in his 50's due to nasal-blockages, to the point where he now needs to drill away some of the cartilage to get rid of migraines and such..

rjsw 7y ago
Cauliflower ears in rugby players would be another example.
- targonca 7y ago
  Cauliflower ears are caused by the ear cartilage dying off and being replaced by fibrous scar tissue. That's definitely not cartilage overgrowth.
joncrane 7y ago
True hyaline cartilage cannot "build up." The good stuff (intra articular) is a precious resource that you can only lose, not gain. The cartilage in your nose and ear are different, and besides, the stuff that's blocking your boxer friend's nose, and causing cauliflower ear is not really cartilage. It's fibrous growth which has a blood supply. It's your body trying to replace real cartilage with a poor substitute.
- ChrisBland 7y ago
  Exactly, not all cartilage is the same. The good stuff doesn't come back unfortunately.

kevin_thibedeau 7y ago

They're selling a product that depends on you not knowing the truth. Medical hucksters routinely lie with facts.

MisterOctober 7y ago

I learned a little about this topic recently after a bad knee injury from running [torn meniscus] -- Blood supply does have a lot to do with healing-or-not -- taking the meniscus as an example, about 30% of the meniscus has a blood supply, the rest does not, so that if the injured part is of that 30%, it can actually heal, whereas if not, they can only clean it up and stitch it together like a rag doll --- [for the curious : I got lucky and my injury healed tolerably well on its own sans surgery]