Temporal bones

Looks like

The bone at each side of the skull around the ear, thin above and very dense below where it houses the hearing organs.

What it does

Holds the middle and inner ear, the jaw joint socket and the channel for the facial nerve.

Keeping it well

Fracture shows as bruising behind the ear, bleeding from the ear or sudden deafness; the thin part over the temple overlies an artery that bleeds after a blow.

Its parts

• Mastoid process
• Right temporal bone
• Left temporal bone

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