Soft palate

The Soft palate is a soft tissue fold made up of muscles, connective tissue and mucous membrane that forms the extension of the hard palate. Their main functions are articulation and the separation of the esophagus and airways during swallowing and speaking. One of the most common complaints in connection with the soft palate is snoring, which is particularly favored by sagging tissue in the area of ​​the lateral soft palate.

What is the soft palate?

The soft palate is also under the medical term Velum palatinum known. Because of its consistency, it is also called soft palate designated.

It is a soft and flexible continuation of the hard palate, which forms a soft tissue fold from muscle tissue, mucous membrane and connective tissue. The soft palate adopts an oblique or vertical hanging position to the root of the tongue and thus separates the airways from the esophagus. As with the base of the tongue, the oral cavity is ultimately separated from the throat by the soft palate.

Anatomy & structure

The palatal aponeurosis forms the basis of the soft palate. The palatal muscles, over which the soft palate mainly moves, radiate into this fibrous plate made of connective tissue. Confluent nerves and arteries connect the soft palate with the bloodstream and the nervous system. On the underside of the plate is connective tissue that is interspersed with fine salivary glands.

On both sides, there are also two double folds from the edge of the soft palate. These double folds are also known as the palatal arch. The posterior soft palate is symmetrically curved twice at the edge. In the middle of this double arch is the uvula, also called the uvula. In the articulation of the A vowel, the transition between the hard and soft palate appears in the form of a borderline, the so-called Ah line. Dental prostheses are dimensioned to a maximum of this borderline, since the movement of the soft palate would pry out a set of teeth further back.

Function & tasks

The delimitation of the oral cavity from the throat and the associated separation of the respiratory and food passages is the main task of the soft soft palate. During the swallowing movement, the pharyngeal constrictor muscle, which opens into the soft palate, is activated.

As a result of this muscle movement, the soft palate presses itself against a bulge on the back wall of the throat, thus preventing liquids or food components from entering the airways.When the soft palate slackens, the airways are only partially blocked when swallowing. A flaccid soft palate can manifest itself in frequent swallowing, for example. The muscles tensor and levator veli palatini, which are networked with the soft palate, also take on important functions. During swallowing, but also when yawning, they ensure that the pressure in the middle ear is equalized.

The second major functional area of ​​the soft palate is articulation. Even when speaking, the soft palate presses against the bulge on the back of the pharynx after it has been raised. The loud air flow from the lungs can flow through the throat without making oral sounds. In the case of nasal vowels, the soft palate is lowered so that the sound stream exits through the mouth as well as through the nose.

Purely nasal sounds, on the other hand, allow the tongue and the soft palate to completely close the oral cavity so that the sound current can only exit from the nose. Flaccid soft palate muscles can also cause difficulties or inaccuracies in speaking due to these articulatory functions of the soft palate. Various causes are possible for the soft palate slack.

Diseases

Snoring is one of the most common problems associated with the soft palate. This phenomenon occurs particularly in the case of a sagging soft palate, which is caused to vibrate by a strong air flow during night breathing. At night, the muscles of the pharynx that keep the airways open during the day relax.

The narrowed airways allow the airflow to shoot through the throat with higher pressure when breathing through the mouth. This increased pressure can cause the soft palate to vibrate. In particular, there is a vibration when the lateral tissue of the soft palate is slack. Pathological snoring causes tiredness and headaches during the day. In such a case, the slack tissue can be surgically removed from the soft palate. The breathing space is expanded and the air pressure is reduced so that the soft palate no longer vibrates.

A slack soft palate may also be associated with a sore throat. Such an inflammation is usually accompanied by a thickened uvula and pain. In the case of inflammatory symptoms on the soft palate, the doctor sometimes treats with the administration of antibiotics. Inflammation of the oral mucosa particularly often spreads to the soft palate. In addition to inflammation, the soft palate is also often affected by embryonic malformations. The malformation of the cleft lip and palate is particularly common and is favored by malnutrition during pregnancy.

Those affected have to struggle with problems with this phenomenon, both when eating and when articulating. However, slight malformations can be corrected surgically. Oral pain associated with speech problems and bad breath, on the other hand, may be related to oral cancer. Oral cancers are most common in men over 50 and often affect the soft palate as well. In the treatment of soft palate cancer, as with all other forms of cancer, chemotherapy is often indicated.

You can find your medication here