The epiglottis
Epiglottis · epiglottis
A leaf-shaped flap that folds over your airway when you swallow.
What it does
The epiglottis is a flap of elastic cartilage behind the root of the tongue. When you swallow, the voice box rises and the epiglottis tips back over the entrance to the airway, helping steer food and drink into the oesophagus instead of your lungs.
Surprising fact
Babies' voice boxes sit higher in the throat, letting them breathe and drink at the same time, an ability most people lose as the voice box descends in early childhood.
Why it matters
When food "goes down the wrong way", the airway hasn't sealed in time and a coughing fit is your body's way of clearing it.
Nearby
Read more
Sources
Drafted with AI help; awaiting a human fact-check against these sources.
Open in the 3D atlas · Suggest a correction · Not medical advice.
3D models: Z-Anatomy & BodyParts3D (CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2.1 JP). Card text CC BY 4.0.