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Portrait of Uvula

Anatomy · Head, neck & teeth

Uvula

The 'little grape' hanging from the soft palate

Oropharynx · free edge of the soft palate

The small, fleshy, cone-shaped projection that hangs from the middle of the free back edge of the soft palate, above the root of the tongue. It contains a pair of small muscles, the musculus uvulae, and many mucous glands. When we swallow, the soft palate rises and the uvula helps to seal off the nasopharynx so that food and drink do not pass up into the nose.

How to spot them

  • ▸A small dangling cone in the midline at the back of the open mouth, between the two arches of the soft palate
  • ▸Latin for 'little grape'
  • ▸Contains the paired musculus uvulae, which shortens and lifts it
  • ▸Deviates away from the side of a vagus nerve lesion

What to know

Its name, in Latin, means little grape

The uvula — from Latin uva, a grape

When a doctor asks a patient to say 'ah', it swings towards the healthy side, away from an injured vagus nerve

Uvular deviation away from the side of a vagal (CN X) lesion

In roughly 1 to 2 per cent of people it is split into two at the tip, occasionally marking a hidden cleft of the roof of the mouth

Bifid uvula, sometimes associated with submucous cleft palate

Trilled or scraped in the French or German 'r' and in some Arabic consonants

Uvular consonants — the back of the tongue articulates against the uvula

A rapidly enlarging, water-filled swelling of this structure after a sting or an allergic reaction can threaten the airway

Uvular oedema (angioedema, uvulitis)

Vibration of this tissue and the soft palate behind it is the main source of the noise of snoring, and surgery to trim it has been used to treat sleep apnoea

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) for snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea

The paired muscle of this structure is supplied by the pharyngeal plexus, and its tightening lifts the tip

The musculus uvulae, supplied through the vagus

Key ideas

  • During swallowing the soft palate rises to meet the back wall of the throat, and the uvula fills the remaining gap, preventing nasal regurgitation.
  • The gag reflex has a sensory limb in the glossopharyngeal nerve (IX) and a motor limb in the vagus (X), and touching the uvula or palate can provoke it.

Quick-fire facts

  • •The uvula is a midline projection from the posterior border of the soft palate, sometimes about 1–1.5 cm long
  • •Its muscle, musculus uvulae, is one of the five muscles of the soft palate, with tensor veli palatini, levator veli palatini, palatoglossus and palatopharyngeus
  • •All the palatal muscles are supplied by the vagus nerve (through the pharyngeal plexus) except tensor veli palatini, which is supplied by the mandibular nerve
  • •The uvula contains serous and mucous glands and secretes thick saliva to help keep the throat moist
  • •A bifid uvula occurs in about 1 in 80–200 people and is usually harmless; it can accompany Loeys–Dietz syndrome
  • •Uvular consonants include the French, German and Hebrew 'r' and the Arabic 'q'
  • •The uvula may be absent or shortened after surgery (UPPP) or cleft palate repair
  • •Named Latin uvula, diminutive of uva, grape; the Greek term staphyle is also used for it

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