The strap muscles
Infrahyoid muscles
Thin strap muscles in the front of the neck that pull the hyoid and voice box down.
What it does
Four thin strap muscles run between the hyoid bone, the voice box and the breastbone and shoulder blade. They pull the hyoid and voice box back down after you swallow, and steady them while you speak and sing.
Surprising fact
Surgeons move these strap muscles aside, and sometimes cut them, to reach the thyroid gland, which lies just beneath them.
Why it matters
Singers rely on them to control the height of the voice box, which affects the tone of the voice.
Nearby
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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.