For the last several days, I've been wondering what happens to the three little bones of the inner ear when we die. Sure, the hammer, anvil, and stirrup--or the malles, incus, and stapes--will stay in place for a while as the body decomposes. But when the tissues of the skull dissolve, do the inner ear bones somehow stay attached to the skull? Or do they fall into the gaping cavity of the skull to rattle around unto eternity? If you pick up a human skull and shake it, will you hear the inner ear bones bouncing like dice in a cup?
I'd like to ask my doctor the next time I see her, but we have a new one and I'm afraid of the impression the question might leave.
Yay! Medical talk!
ReplyDeleteThe malleus, incus, and stapes form the ossicles, the bones that transmit sound vibrations to the auditory nerves. They are the first bones to solidify when we are in foetus form, and are fully formed when we are born. They do not grow.
They are attached to the skill via ligaments and are connected by synovial joints similar in anatomy to your knuckles. All that tissue dissolves fairly rapidly after death, a few days tops, although it could be that if your body was trapped in a low-oxygen anaerobic environment, the ligaments could turn into leather and last a long time. Try for that, if you want to keep your ossicles.
Otherwise, not only will the bones rattle in the skull, they'll also fall out like the way toenail clippings vanish whenever you clip your nails. They'll also break down much more quickly than the skull because they are very small and thin.
Even if Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping" is truly the soundtrack in Hell, you'll be deaf somewhere between just 50 and 100 years, if not much sooner.