The only bone in the body that does not articulate with any other bone, held in place by muscles and ligaments
Hyoid bone — suspended in the front of the neck.
Anatomy · Bones
Hyoid bone
The bone that touches no other bone
Neck · anterior
The hyoid is a small, U- or horseshoe-shaped bone in the front of the neck, at about the level of the third cervical vertebra, just above the larynx. It does not articulate with any other bone and is instead suspended by muscles and ligaments. It anchors the tongue and the muscles of the floor of the mouth and larynx, and it takes part in swallowing.
How to spot them
- ▸A small U-shaped bone in the front of the neck, below the chin and above the thyroid cartilage
- ▸Consists of a central body with a greater horn (cornu) and a lesser horn on each side
- ▸Sits at about the level of the third cervical vertebra
- ▸Suspended by muscles and ligaments; joined to no other bone
What to know
A small U-shaped bone just above the larynx, at the level of the third cervical vertebra
Hyoid bone — its name comes from the Greek letter upsilon.
Its fracture is rare, but is found in around a third of homicides by strangulation, making it an important post-mortem finding
Hyoid bone — protected by the mandible and cervical spine.
It has a central body and two pairs of horns, greater and lesser, the latter carrying a ligament from the styloid process
Hyoid bone — the stylohyoid ligament attaches to the lesser horn.
Genioglossus, digastric and the middle pharyngeal constrictor all anchor to it, which is why it rises and falls in swallowing
Hyoid bone — the attachment point for muscles of the tongue, floor of the mouth, pharynx and neck.
A well-preserved Neanderthal example from Kebara Cave in Israel resembled the modern human form and featured in debate about Neanderthal speech
Hyoid bone — the Kebara 2 hyoid.
Key ideas
- It is a mobile anchor: the tongue, larynx and pharynx all attach to it, so it rises and falls in swallowing and speech.
Quick-fire facts
- •The only bone in the body that does not articulate with another bone (as TeachMeAnatomy states)
- •Lies at about C3, at the base of the mandible
- •Body, two greater horns and two lesser horns
- •Three ligaments: stylohyoid, thyrohyoid membrane and hyoepiglottic
- •Muscles attaching include the hyoglossus, genioglossus, middle pharyngeal constrictor, digastric, mylohyoid, geniohyoid, stylohyoid, thyrohyoid, omohyoid and sternohyoid
- •Fractures are relatively rare because the mandible and cervical spine protect it
- •Hyoid fractures are found in around a third of homicides by strangulation
- •Pain on speaking, painful swallowing (odynophagia) and breathlessness may accompany a hyoid fracture from trauma
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Sources
- TeachMeAnatomy — The Hyoid Bone
- Kenhub — Hyoid bone: Anatomy, attachments and function