Rib removal

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Rib removal
SpecialtyPlastic 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]

Therapeutic removal

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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

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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]

American model and performer Amanda Lepore reportedly underwent a surgery similar to rib removal in 2000, going to Mexico to have some of her ribs "broken and pushed in."[9][10][11]

In 2015, Swedish model Pixee Fox, citing inspiration from hyper-feminine cartoon characters, like Tinker Bell and Jessica Rabbit, sought to have six of her ribs removed in order to create a more exaggerated hourglass figure.[12] The surgery, performed in Carmel, Indiana by plastic surgeon Dr. Barry Eppley, reportedly cost Fox $9,000 USD and removed the ribs 10 through 12, as well as some of the muscle attached to them.[13] After her surgery, Fox was able to shrink her waist to 16 inches in circumference while in a corset. Her experience was documented by Barcroft TV.[14] In an interview with Closer, Fox said it had initially been difficult for her to find a doctor willing to perform the surgery.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "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.[dead link]
  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. ^ a b 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. ^ "Here's what 'the most expensive body on Earth' looks like". 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  10. ^ "Amanda Lepore, Transgender Club Diva, Tells All About Her Plastic Surgery (Published 2017)". 2017-07-19. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  11. ^ "Into the Gloss interview with Amanda Lepore". 2016-02-24. Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  12. ^ truly (2015-11-26). Model Has Six Ribs Removed In World's Smallest Waist Bid. Retrieved 2025-10-28 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ Vaughn, Beth (2016-05-20). "Model travels to Indiana to get rare rib removal". WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  14. ^ "Pixee Fox Has Six Ribs Removed to Achieve Cartoon Character Proportions". People.com. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  15. ^ Knox, Miranda. Closer Magazine: Issue 672, 13 November 2015. "'I've Had Six Ribs Removed To Look Like a Living Doll'".