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Opening of auditory tube7/14/2023 When the breath (inhale or exhale) is controlled, air pressure can be intentionally increased or decreased in the middle ear (breathing through the nose only or mouth), where the feeling of a cool air breeze can be felt inside the eustachian tube. This allows such people to voluntarily equalize pressures at will when making rapid ascents or descents, typically in aircraft flights or large elevation changes in either tall buildings or mountainous treks. Some who have the ability to voluntarily contract these muscles can hear a "popclickity" sound in the middle ear when actuating these muscles, and are able to hold the muscle contraction (some refer to this as 'clicking your ears to equalize the pressure'). ![]() Without this airway, air would be unable to escape from one's ear, the middle ear would be isolated from the atmosphere, and could be easily damaged by pressure changes. Doing so will make one's voice sound louder to oneself. Some people are born with the ability to contract just these muscles voluntarily, similar to people who can wiggle their ears. Yawning or swallowing can pull on muscles in the neck, causing the tube to open. When this happens we hear a small pop, an event familiar to aircraft passengers or drivers in mountainous regions. Normally the Eustachian tube is closed, but it can open to let a small amount of air through to equalize the pressure between the middle ear and the atmosphere. Epistaxis (nosebleed) is a very common presentation to veterinary surgeons and this may often be fatal unless a balloon catheter can be placed in time to suppress bleeding. This is of great importance in equine medicine as the pouches are prone to infections, and due to their intimate relationship to the cranial nerves (VII,IX,X,XI) and the internal and external carotid artery, various syndromes may arise relating to which is damaged. ![]() In the equids (horses) and some rodent-like species such as the desert hyrax, an evagination of the eustachian tube is known as the gutteral pouch and is divided into medial and lateral compartments by the stylohyoid bone of the hyoid apparatus. A portion of the tube (~1/3) proximal to the middle ear is made of bone the rest is composed of cartilage and raises a tubal elevation, the torus tubarius, in the nasopharynx where it opens. The Eustachian tube extends from the anterior wall of the middle ear to the lateral wall of the nasopharynx, approximately at the level of the inferior nasal concha. ![]() Some modern medical books call this the pharyngotympanic tube. It is named after the 16th century anatomist Eustachius. In adults the Eustachian tube is approximately 35 mm long. The Eustachian tube (or auditory tube) is a tube that links the pharynx to the middle ear. Template:Infobox Anatomy Editor-In-Chief: C.
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