Anatom3DDiaphragm
Diaphragma · Bránice
Muscles
Looks like
A thin dome of muscle and tendon sealing the bottom of the chest, rising under the lungs to about the level of the nipples.
What it does
The main breathing muscle: contracting, it flattens and pulls air into the lungs; it also helps you push, cough and vomit.
Keeping it well
It can be paralysed on one side by damage to the phrenic nerve in the neck, and weak spots let stomach rise through it (hiatus hernia). Breathlessness that is much worse lying flat, or a stab wound anywhere near the lower ribs, needs checking.