Soft palate & uvula

Looks like

A muscular curtain hanging back from the hard roof of the mouth, ending in the uvula.

What it does

Shuts the nose off when you swallow and speak, and vibrates when you snore.

Keeping it well

Weight loss and side sleeping reduce snoring; it is this curtain that collapses in sleep apnoea.

Its parts

• Right levator veli palatini
• Left levator veli palatini
• Right tensor veli palatini
• Left tensor veli palatini
• Uvular muscle

Related conditions

• 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (DiGeorge)
• Bad breath (halitosis)
• Botulism
• Burning mouth syndrome
• Cleft lip and palate
• Fibromyalgia
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Hand, foot and mouth disease
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Lichen planus
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Mouth ulcers (aphthous stomatitis)
• Muscular dystrophy
• Obstructive sleep apnoea
• Pemphigus vulgaris
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Stevens–Johnson syndrome / toxic epidermal necrolysis
• Tetanus