Facts About the Throat

The upper airways include the nose and the sinuses, the mouth and the pharynx (throat).
The lower airways include the larynx (see vocal cords), the trachea (windpipe) and the airways of the lungs.
The sinuses are air chambers within the bones of the skull that form the forehead and face.
After air is taken in through the nose or mouth, it travels down the throat, down the windpipe held open by cartilage rings, and into the lungs.
The soft palate is a flap of tissue at the back of the mouth, which is pressed upwards when you swallow to stop food getting into your nose.
Your throat is the tube that runs down through your neck from the back of your nose and mouth.
Your throat branches in two at the bottom. One branch, the oesophagus, takes food to the stomach. The other, the larynx, takes air to the lungs.
The epiglottis is the flap that tilts down to the larynx to stop food entering it when you swallow.
The tonsils and the adenoids are bunches of lymph nodes (see lymphatic system) that swell to help fight ear, nose and throat infections, especially in young children.
The adenoids are at the back of the nose, and the tonsils are at the back of the upper throat.
If tonsils or adenoids swell too much, they are sometimes taken out.

This entry is filed under Interesting Facts.