Ossifying Fibroma is a rare bone disorder in which scar tissue (fibrous tissue) grows where normal bone should be. This disfigured tissue can weaken the bone and cause it to change shape or break. Mostly, ossifying fibroma occurs in one spot on one bone, but it can also occur in more than one spot on more than one bone; teens and young adults are affected by a single bone. People with more than one affected bone usually show signs of illness before they turn 10.
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Even though ossifying fibroma is a genetic disorder, it is caused by a gene mutation that is not passed down from parent to child. The disorder has no treatment. The goal of treatment, which may include surgery, is to get rid of pain and fix or stabilize bones.
In this post, we will discuss some natural remedies for ossifying fibroma.
What is Ossifying Fibroma (OF)?
Ossifying Fibroma (OF) is a rare bone disease that is sometimes cancerous (less than 1 percent). This disorder causes fibrous bone-like tissue to grow in place of normal, healthy bone. This makes the area more likely to break (broken bone). OF can affect just one bone (called monostotic OF), several bones (called polyostotic OF), or the whole skeleton (known as panostotic OF). Most of the time, it affects the bones in the legs, upper arms, skull (including the bones in the face), and ribs. It may also be linked to spots on the skin called “café au lait macules” that are darker than the rest of the skin.
Types of Ossifying Fibroma
Ossifying fibroma comes in two different forms. These are monostotic ossifying fibroma and polyostotic ossifying fibroma.
- Monostotic Ossifying Fibroma is the name of the condition that happens when one bone in the body is hurt.
- Polyostotic Ossifying Fibroma is marked by scar tissue that grows and affects more than one bone. Some reports say that the monostotic form is seen four times more often than the polyostotic form.
Symptoms of Ossifying Fibroma
If Ossifying fibroma is mild, it may not cause many or any signs or symptoms. If ossifying fibroma gets worse, it may lead to:
- Bone pain and dull ache.
- Swelling
- Misshaped bones
- Breaks in the bones, especially in the arms or legs
- Leg bones that are curved
Ossifying fibroma can affect any bone in the body, but the following bones are most often affected:
- Leg bone (femur)
- The shinbone (tibia)
- Upper arm bone (humerus)
- Skull
- Ribs
- Pelvis
Ossifying fibroma is sometimes linked to a syndrome that affects the glands in your endocrine system that make hormones. Some of these abnormalities include:
- Very early puberty
- unusual overreactive hormone production
- Skin with light brown spots
- Bone pain can also be caused by the normal changes in hormones that happen during the menstrual cycle or during pregnancy.
When To See a Doctor
You should immediately see a doctor if you experience any of the following:
- Pain in the bones that gets worse when you put weight on them or doesn’t go away when you rest
- Bone pain that keeps you up at night
- Difficulty limping or walking
- Odd increase in size or swelling
- Changes in how bones look
- Different lengths of limbs
Causes of Ossifying Fibroma
Ossifying fibroma is caused by a change in a gene that is found in some cells that make bone. Because of the mutation, immature and crooked bone tissue is made. Most of the time, the abnormal bone tissue (lesion) is only in one place on one bone. Less often, more than one bone is affected, and each bone may have more than one lesion.
Most lesions stop growing when a person hits puberty. But lesions can come back while a woman is pregnant. Ossifying fibroma is caused by a change in a gene that happens after conception, in the early stages of fetal development. So, you didn’t get the mutation from your parents, and you can’t pass it on to your kids.
Complications
When ossifying fibroma is bad, it can lead to:
- Bone damage or deformity: The part of a bone that is weaker can cause the bone to bend. These bones are also more likely to break because they are weaker.
- Loss of sight and hearing: Bone that isn’t healthy may be around the nerves that control your eyes and ears. Extremely crooked facial bones can make it hard to see and hear, but this is a rare problem.
- Arthritis: If the bones in your legs or pelvis are out of shape, arthritis may develop in the joints of those bones.
- Cancer: Rarely, a spot on a bone that has been hurt can turn cancerous. People who have already had radiation therapy are usually the only ones who get this rare complication.
Diagnosis of Ossifying Fibroma
An X-ray scan is the best way to find out if someone has ossifying fibroma. The bone looks solid on an X-ray, but an ossifying fibroma lesion looks more like “ground glass.” This means that the condition can be diagnosed even in people who don’t have any symptoms but are getting an X-ray for another reason. An X-ray can also help your doctor figure out how much of the bone is hurt and if the bone is twisted.
More tests may be done to confirm a diagnosis or rule out other diseases. These include:
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Imaging tests
Computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging can be used to make images of bone that look like slices or in three dimensions. Your doctor can use these tools to get a better idea of the quality of your bone or a fracture caused by ossifying fibroma.
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Bone scan
A nuclear imaging test is a bone scan. A small amount of a radioactive tracer is put into your bloodstream. The damaged parts of bone take up the tracer. When a special camera is used to scan your body, the pictures can help a doctor figure out if you have more than one ossifying fibroma lesion.
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Biopsy
For this test, a small piece of the affected bone is taken out with a hollow needle and looked at under a microscope. Ossifying fibroma can be confirmed by looking at the shape and arrangement of the cells.
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Lab tests
When ossifying fibroma lesions are growing quickly, blood and urine tests may show that the body has a lot of certain enzymes and amino acids.
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Endocrine examination
This includes hormones and blood tests, which may be needed if the disease has symptoms that are caused by an imbalance in hormones. This is especially helpful for figuring out if someone has McCune-Albright syndrome, which is closely related to polyostotic type ossifying fibroma.
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Computerized Tomography or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CT)
When figuring out if the bones in the head and face are sick, these tests give accurate images that are analyzed by a computer. This information would help a doctor decide how to treat ossifying fibroma of the skull.
Ossifying Fibroma Treatment
Generally, there is no standard ossifying fibroma cure. However, if you are found to have mild ossifying fibroma by accident and don’t have any signs or symptoms, you have a low chance of getting a deformity or breaking a bone. Your doctor will probably use X-rays to check on your health from time to time.
Medications
Bisphosphonates are medicines for osteoporosis that stop bone loss by reducing the activity of cells that normally break down bone. Some studies show that bisphosphonates may help strengthen weak bones because of ossifying fibroma. They may also help relieve bone pain.
Surgery
Your doctor may tell you to have surgery to:
- Fix a wrong shape
- fix a difference in the lengths of the limbs
- Casting can be used to fix a broken bone that won’t heal.
- Prevent fractures
- Relieve pressure on a nerve, especially if the lesion is in your head or face.
During surgery, the bone lesion may be removed and replaced with a bone graft, which could be bone from another part of your body, bone tissue from a donor, or man-made material. In some cases, a lesion caused by ossifying fibroma may come back.
Natural Remedies for Ossifying Fibroma
Rare bone diseases can be cured naturally with the help of natural products and supplements, either before or after a person gets affected. Here are 10 powerful natural remedies for ossifying fibroma.
Calcium
Calcium is a very important component of bone formation. Foods and drinks high in this mineral can help heal tissue scars. Bones are made of calcium and collagen. Almost 99% of the calcium in the body is in the bones and teeth. Dairy foods like milk, cheese, and yogurt are dietary sources.
Omega-3 fatty acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are another important nutrient for healthy bones. It has a lot of salmon and other fat-rich fish. Omega-3 fatty acids make bones stronger and speed up the healing process. Because of this, it is a great addition to the treatment of ossifying fibroma. Salmon has more omega-3 fatty acids than most other foods.
Vitamin K
Some experts say that vitamin K may help treat or prevent bone diseases in addition to its role in making blood clots. Several articles have shown that people with low levels of vitamin K often have problems with how their bones form. Getting enough vitamin K from food might help keep your bones healthy.
Phosphorus and Magnesium
Magnesium and phosphorus are also important for healthy bones and can be used to treat ossifying fibroma. Magnesium helps the body absorb and store calcium in the bones, and it also helps the body heal itself. Research shows that magnesium supplements are a powerful way to treat bone diseases. On the other hand, bones need phosphorous to stay strong. About 85% of the phosphorus in the body is in the bones and teeth.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D helps bones heal, and people with ossifying fibroma can use it as a natural treatment for the disease. Vitamin D is an important micronutrient that helps keep bones healthy and treats ossifying fibroma in a natural way. It is a key part of how calcium is absorbed, used, and turned into bone. Spending a little time outside every day is a great way to give your skin vitamin D. Vitamin D is also found in high amounts in some foods, like egg yolks and fatty fish.
Keep an appropriate weight
Researchers have found a direct link between your bones’ health and weight. Underweight people are more likely to get bone diseases, while overweight people put more stress on their bones. When someone has ossifying fibroma, gaining and losing weight back and forth can make the disease worse. Trying to lose weight quickly is not a good idea.
Taking in more protein
Protein is important for keeping bones healthy and strong. A study showed that people with higher protein diets had stronger bones overall. People who ate more protein also broke their forearms less often. So, getting enough of it in what you eat is important.
Limiting how much alcohol you drink
If a person drinks alcohol in moderation, it probably won’t hurt their bones. But heavy, long-term drinking can make it harder for the body to absorb calcium, lower bone density, and increase the chance of getting ossifying fibroma later in life. Young women in their teens and early 20s who drink too much are most at risk.
Quit smoking
Even though smoking is often linked to lung cancer and breathing problems, it can also cause bone diseases like osteoporosis and increase the risk of ossifying fibroma. To keep your bones healthy, you should not smoke, especially when you are a teenager or a young adult.
Vegetable consumption
Adding a lot of vegetables to your diet is a great way to improve bone health and treat ossifying fibroma. Veggies have the fiber and minerals your bones need to stay healthy. Vegetables also have vitamin C, which is often mentioned when talking about how to keep bones from breaking down. Veggies help children build strong bones and help adults keep their bones strong and dense. Broccoli, cabbage, and other green vegetables have potassium and polyphenols, which stop bones from breaking down and keep them organized.
Conclusion
There is no known way to treat ossifying fibroma. This makes it more likely that people will look for natural ways to treat ossifying fibroma. In the same way, more effort is being put into studying the possibility of treating rare diseases with natural remedies. These tried-and-true remedies on our list of natural treatments for ossifying fibroma can make the disease less painful and improve your quality of life. Make sure to include these natural products and supplements in your diet to help build and protect your bones.
Post Disclaimer
The information contained in this post "9 Effective Natural Remedies for Ossifying Fibroma" is for educational purposes only. Always consult your primary care doctor before using the remedies that are provided. The information is provided by The Hidden Cures and while we do timely, in-depth research on the information that we provide to you, everything stated may not be up to date or accurate from the time it was written.