Rib removal

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Rib removal
Specialty Plastic surgeon (if not for therapeutic reason)

Rib removal is surgery to remove one or more ribs. Rib resection is the removal of part of a rib. [1] The procedures are done for various medical reasons. A number of celebrities have been falsely rumoured to have had ribs removed as a form of body modification. [2]

Contents

Therapeutic removal

Rib removal may be medically approved in several situations. If a rib is fractured in such a way that it might puncture a vital organ, it may be safer to remove it than wait for it to heal. [1] A cancerous rib may be removed to stop the cancer from spreading. [1] Rib bone material may be used for a bone graft. [1] The excess pressure of thoracic outlet syndrome may be reduced by rib removal. [1] Major surgery to the thoracic cavity, such as open heart surgery, may require removal of ribs to allow access to the organ being operated on. [1]

Body modification

Victorian fashion valued a wasp waist and hourglass figure for women. This was achieved through laced corsets. Twentieth-century rumors hold that some women had their lower ribs removed to facilitate tighter lacing of the waist. In 1931, corset-maker Rosa Binner alleged that French actress Polaire had had her lowest rib removed in the 1890s. [3] Germaine Greer's second-wave feminist book The Female Eunuch gives the practice as an example of male-directed distortion of the female body. [4] Valerie Steele's history of the corset finds no evidence of such a procedure, and with Lynne Kutsche argues the mortal danger of surgery of the era makes it extremely implausible. [5]

Barbara Mikkelson of Snopes.com suggests that Florenz Ziegfeld might have started such a rumor about his protégée Anna Held to publicize her career. [6] Similar stories have been spread about later celebrities. Cher hired a physician in 1990 to confirm that she has a full set of ribs. [6] It was rumored that Marilyn Manson had ribs removed to facilitate autofellatio. [7] Interviewed for a Vogue article in 2000, John E. Sherman of Weill Cornell Medical College said that while such a procedure was theoretically possible, there was no record of it in the medical literature. [8]

Amanda Lepore claimed that she had skirted the law to obtain a similar surgery. She was quoted saying "'I've had my boobs done, and my lips done, my bottom lip reduced, and my bottom rib broken and pushed in—I think Raquel Welch and Cher did that, too. It's illegal in the US, but I had it done in Mexico. They break the floating rib in the back and push it in, so there's no scar." in an interview. [9]

In October 2015, internet model and self-proclaimed "living doll" Pixee Fox documented the procedure to remove her six lower ribs on her Tumblr account. The procedure shortened rather than fully removed the ribs. [10] In an interview with Closer, she stated that it was difficult to find a doctor willing to perform the surgery. [11]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corset</span> Reinforced historical European undergarment

A corset is a support undergarment worn to hold and train the torso into the desired shape and posture. They are traditionally constructed out of fabric with boning made of whalebone or steel, a stiff panel in the front called a busk which holds the torso rigidly upright, and some form of lacing which allows the garment to be tightened. Corsets were an essential undergarment in European women's fashion from the 17th century to the early 20th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries they were commonly known as "stays" and had a more conical shape. This later evolved into the curvaceous 19th century form which is commonly associated with the corset today. By the beginning of the 20th century, shifting gender roles and the onsets of World War I and II led the corset to be largely discarded by mainstream fashion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tightlacing</span> Practice of wearing a tightly laced corset

Tightlacing is the practice of wearing an increasingly tightly laced corset to achieve cosmetic modifications to the figure and posture or to experience the sensation of bodily restriction. The process originates in mid-19th century Europe and was highly controversial. At the peak of the prevalence of tightlacing, there was much public backlash both from medical doctors and dress reformers, and it was often ridiculed as vain by the general public. Due to a combination of evolving fashion trends, social change regarding the roles of women, and material shortages brought on by World War I and II, tightlacing, and corsets in general, fell out of favor entirely by the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardiothoracic surgery</span> Medical specialty involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thorax

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corset controversy</span> The concerns of supporters and detractors arguments for and against wearing a corset.

The corset controversy was a moral panic and public health concern around corsets in the 19th century.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slipping rib syndrome</span> Pain in the false ribs due to the partial dislocation of the costal cartilage

Slipping rib syndrome (SRS) is a condition in which the interchondral ligaments are weakened or disrupted and have increased laxity, causing the costal cartilage tips to subluxate. This results in pain or discomfort due to pinched or irritated intercostal nerves, straining of the intercostal muscles, and inflammation. The condition affects the 8th, 9th, and 10th ribs, referred to as the false ribs, with the 10th rib most commonly affected.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rib Resection". Medical Disability Guidelines. Reed Group. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "Getting Waisted". Snopes. 8 August 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  3. ↑ Ducas, Dorothy (18 January 1931). "Confessions of the Queen of Corsets". Palm Beach Post. Palm Beach. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  4. ↑ Greer, Germaine (2009-10-06). The Female Eunuch. HarperCollins. p. 34. ISBN   9780061972805 . Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Steele, Valerie (2001). The Corset: A Cultural History. Yale University Press. pp. 73–74. ISBN   9780300099539.
  6. 1 2 Mikkelson, Barbara (8 July 2006). "Rib Removal". snopes.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  7. ↑ VanHooker, Brian (November 2017). "All the reasons celebs have been rumored to have ribs removed and whether they would have worked". Archived from the original on 2019-01-26. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  8. ↑ Godfrey-June, Jean (August 2000). "Waist Land". Vogue. Archived from the original on 26 December 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Into the Gloss interview with Amanda Lepore". 2016-02-24. Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  10. ↑ "Corsets and Rib Removal". Lucy's Corsetry. 2018-01-30. Archived from the original on 2018-04-28. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  11. ↑ Knox, Miranda. Closer Magazine: Issue 672, 13 November 2015. "'I've Had Six Ribs Removed To Look Like a Living Doll'".
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