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That "dangly thing at the back of your throat," sort of between your tonsils, is called the uvula.

It's part of the soft palate, a structure that helps make up the vocal tract. Although the uvula is used to make certain sounds in other languages (though not in English), its exact function remains unknown. Even otolaryngologists, medical professionals who specialize in the ears, nose, and throat, still ponder this mysterious little appendage.
Most of the information we found came from sites about snoring and sleep disorders, or from pediatric articles for parents. We learned the soft palate guards the opening to the throat, windpipe, and lungs. Designed to prevent food and drink from going back up into the nose when you swallow, the gag reflex that occurs when something touches the uvula also protects against choking hazards. Uvulitis is an infection of the uvula similar to strep throat. Some children have an extra-long uvula, which seems to make them more prone to gagging or vomiting.

In certain individuals, the uvula is forked. In others, it is missing. Some singers claim it enhances their vibrato. We even found one self-described online uvulator, who has published audio files of his uvula gurgle and clicking sounds.

2006-10-15 08:33:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3 0

Dangly Thing In Throat

2016-09-29 10:04:43 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

The uvula is a small mass of tissue hanging down from the soft palate, near the back of the throat. The word is derived from the diminutive of uva, the Latin word for "grape", due to the uvula's grape-like shape.

The uvula plays an important role in the articulation of the sound of the human voice to form the sounds of speech. It functions in tandem with the back of the throat, the palate, and air coming up from the lungs to create a number of guttural and other sounds. Consonants pronounced with the uvula are not found in English; however, languages such as Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Ubykh, and Hmong use uvular consonants to varying degrees. Certain African languages use the uvula to produce click consonants, as well. In English (as well as many other languages), it closes to prevent air escaping through the nose when making some sounds, such as /b/.

In a small number of people, the uvula does not close properly against the back of the throat causing a condition known as "velopharengeal insufficiency" or VPI. This causes "nasal" (or more properly "hyper-nasal") speech, where a lot of extra air comes down the nose, and the speaker is unable to say certain consonants, for example producing the sound /b/ like /m/.

The uvula can also contribute to snoring or heavy breathing during sleep; having an elongated uvula can cause vibrations which lead to the snoring. In some cases this can lead to sleep apnea, which may be treated by removal of the uvula or part of the uvula if necessary, although it should be noted that this operation can also cause sleep apnea if scar tissue forms and the airspace in the velo pharnyx is decreased. The operation to remove the uvula, known as uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (commonly referred to as UPPP, or U3P) has a success rate of about 40 percent.[citation needed] Typically apnea subsides for the short term, but returns over the medium to long term, and sometimes is worse than it was before the UPPP.

If the uvula touched by a finger or other object, this will induce an unpleasant gagging sensation witch is almost usually followed by vomiting. Thus, is how bulemics perform the self-induced vomiting.

During swallowing, the soft palate and the uvula move superiorly to close off the nasopharynx, preventing food from entering the nasal cavity. When this occurs it is called 'nasal regurgitation' and is common in people with VPI.

Splitting of the uvula occurs infrequently but is the most common form of mouth and nose area cleavage among newborns (roughly 2% of infants have this bifid or split uvula). Newborns with cleft palate also have a split uvula.

2006-10-15 22:57:01 · answer #3 · answered by vinodh 2 · 1 1

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It is an Uvula, heres some general information on them for you, The uvula plays a key role in the articulation of the sound of the human voice to form the sounds of speech.[2] It functions in tandem with the back of the throat, the palate, and air coming up from the lungs to create a number of guttural and other sounds. Consonants pronounced with the uvula are not found in English; however, languages such as Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Ubykh, and Hmong use uvular consonants to varying degrees. Certain African languages use the uvula to produce click consonants as well. In English (as well as many other languages), it closes to prevent air escaping through the nose when making some sounds.

2016-04-01 02:35:53 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0 1

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RE:
whats that dangly thing in the back of your throat called ?

2015-08-15 06:54:42 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Uvula.. it controls your gag reflex..

As for the idiot who put it's the Epiglottis, they should check there facts. The Epiglottis is a flap of cartilage that closes over the Trachea to stop food going down it. It's situated at the base of the tongue at the bottom of the throat. It doesn't dangle from the top of your throat, thats the Uvula. The epiglottis is flat and can't be seen when you open your mouth. And it can't be Tonsils either as there's 2 of those.

2006-10-15 08:33:43 · answer #6 · answered by Georgie's Girl 5 · 1 1

Uvula

2006-10-15 08:31:23 · answer #7 · answered by misskate12001 6 · 0 0

The uvula, but onlly if you're a girl

(Jokes! It's called a uvula regardless of sex. I got that idea from the trailer of Monster House).

2006-10-18 02:33:04 · answer #8 · answered by swelwynemma 7 · 0 0

Its called the Uvula.

2006-10-15 08:36:09 · answer #9 · answered by Excelsior 2 · 0 0

Uvula.

2006-10-15 08:32:22 · answer #10 · answered by Iknowsomestuff 4 · 0 0

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