The Story of Stone: The Amazing Journey of an Otolith

Baoyu is an otolith, which is what people often call the otolith in otolith disease.

Is this otolith actually a stone?

Otoliths are indeed stones, because the so-called otoliths are actually a kind of calcium carbonate crystals. Friends who have studied junior high school chemistry must know that the main component of most stones is calcium carbonate, so it is understandable to call the calcium carbonate crystals in the ear stones.

Since it is a stone, today we will use "A Dream of Red Mansions" as the title and Baoyu as the name to tell the story of the wonderful journey of this otolith.

This gem did not come from the Qinggeng Peak of Wuji Cliff in Dahuang Mountain, but was born in the otolith organ in the vestibule. The otolith organ is also called the saccule and the utricle. In our human inner ear, this organ is responsible for sensing the linear acceleration of the body. This function is like the damper on the Shanghai Tower, China's tallest building. By sensing the change in acceleration, it offsets the shaking of the building, and is known as the "building-guarding artifact." There are many hair cells in the otolith organ that sense changes in body position. These hair cells are like a daffodil. The round bulb in the middle is the main part of the hair cell. The nerve endings below are like slender roots, and the cilia on the top are like the leaves of a daffodil. The otoliths on the top of the cilia are like the flowers of a daffodil. Have you ever seen a daffodil fluttering in the wind? Yes, the otoliths are like this. Through such swinging, our bodies can feel the acceleration, thereby helping us maintain our body balance.

Having absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, this precious jade is naturally different from those stubborn stones. As long as he can remember, Baoyu's daily job is to grab that thin cilia and swing it back and forth, like a musical metronome, swinging non-stop. All otoliths work like this, and it lasts for about 2-6 weeks, because the lifespan of each otolith is like this, and it will eventually dissolve and absorb. New otoliths gradually regenerate and replace the old ones, day after day. Baoyu wants to go out and see in his limited life, and he swings harder every time, and gradually, the cilia that bind him loosen...

In the early morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year, Doctor Xiaoyun just got off work from the emergency department of the hospital. After a busy day, one morning shift followed by another afternoon shift, more than ten hours later, she was exhausted. In order to take a vacation to her hometown after the Chinese New Year, she always worked consecutive shifts during this period. Although she was tired, she could still persevere.

On the way home, when she was almost at the door of her house, she suddenly stumbled and accidentally stepped on a discarded firecracker on the road. Her foot twisted and she fell down, with her forehead hitting the ground heavily. At this moment, a flash of white light flashed before her eyes, followed by a sharp pain. As soon as she got up, she felt dizzy, the lights around her spun in front of her eyes, and a wave of nausea came from her stomach.

The camera zooms in countless times, allowing us to enter Xiaoyun's inner ear. The collision just now caused Baoyu, who had been trying to break free from the cilia, to fall off the cilia and into the ocean of endolymph. At this moment, Baoyu was like a monkey who had just jumped out of a stone, frolicking in the vestibule.

Why not go somewhere else? A thought flashed through the little stone's mind.

Baoyu was drifting in the ocean of lymph when he suddenly saw a whirlpool in front of him. Before he could react, the little stone was sucked in.

"Where is this?" Little Stone asked anxiously.

"This is the master's left posterior semicircular canal. The master has three semicircular canals on each side, namely the posterior semicircular canal, the external semicircular canal and the superior semicircular canal." A narration voice came from the air.

"It's so fun here. The semicircular canals are like water slides in a water park. I can play here all day long." Baoyu said as he swayed back and forth in the semicircular canals.

"But you see, our master is feeling dizzy right now because of your shaking!"

"Why is this so? I am so small, my height is only 6 microns. Compared with my master, I am like a grain of sand in the desert." Baoyu asked puzzledly.

The voice said slowly, "Don't underestimate yourself. Although you are so small, you can cause great harm if you run wild in the semicircular canals. The three semicircular canals of humans are arranged at 90 degrees, just like the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis in the coordinate system. Through the flow of lymph in the semicircular canals, people can feel the angular acceleration motion stimulation in various directions when the head turns. In simple terms, it can make people feel the rotation of the head position. Your movement will destroy the owner's perception of the head position, and she will naturally feel dizzy."

"So that's how it is. The place where I used to be is called the otolith organ, and my job is to let the owner feel linear acceleration. It seems that every part of the inner ear has its own function." Baoyu said thoughtfully.

"Little Stone, you've had enough fun, you should go back."

"Yeah, I didn't expect that I would cause so much trouble to the master just because of a whim. But this exit is so high, what should I do if I can't climb up by myself..."

Xiaoyun lay in the dormitory until noon the next day. Whenever she moved her head, she would still feel dizzy. Later, her roommate helped her to see the doctor on duty in the ENT department. After the examination, the ENT doctor initially determined that she had otolithiasis. Afterwards, the ENT doctor helped Xiaoyun to the examination bed and began to perform Epley reduction for otolithiasis. While doing it, the feeling of dizziness came over her strongly, but when it was done, Xiaoyun felt her mind suddenly relaxed and bright. Although she still felt a little uncomfortable, the dizziness was gone.

"Welcome back to the vestibule!"

After a period of ups and downs, Baoyu finally fell out of the left posterior semicircular canal and returned to the place where he was born.

"Can I ever get back to the cilia?"

"You can't go back. You have about two weeks left. After that, you will gradually melt in this vestibular lymph fluid."

"Well, I'll be a good otolith for the next two weeks and won't go anywhere. My body is melting, but I can't forget those experiences. Can you write down my story?"

"Maybe. Let's call it The Story of the Stone. I know a friend named Five Senses on the Sea. I wonder if he'd be willing to help you publish it."

“Let’s give it a try!”