Right temporal bone

Looks like

The bone at the side of the skull around the ear, with a flat upper part, the knob behind the ear (mastoid) and a dense core deep inside.

What it does

Houses the middle and inner ear (hearing and balance), forms the socket of the jaw joint and carries the canal of the facial nerve.

Keeping it well

A fracture here can bleed from the ear, cause deafness or facial weakness. Pain and swelling behind the ear after an ear infection needs a doctor.

Related conditions

• Achondroplasia
• Acromegaly
• Brain abscess
• Cholesteatoma
• Fractures
• Fragility fracture
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease)
• Osteomalacia & rickets
• Osteomyelitis (bone infection)
• Osteoporosis
• Paget's disease of bone
• Sarcoma
• Traumatic brain injury (moderate to severe)
• Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies
• Vitamin D deficiency