Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Epiglottis

I am about to reveal what a speech therapy nerd I am. I think I would have loved to have gone to medical school. Anyway, I was looking in Shayne's mouth to see if her molars had come in and I noticed that I could see her epiglottis! Um, it's not normal in an adult to be able to see the epiglottis when you open your mouth. But if you look at this picture you can see a white shiny thing at the back of her throat. That's it! It's a little leaf shaped cartilage everybody has in their throat. It helps to protect your airway from anything getting into it. But kids' throats are more horizontal than adults', so it does make some sense that I can see hers. But it was still a shock. Now it also makes sense why kids choke so easily, because their airway is right at the back of their tongue. It's the cutest little epiglottis I've ever seen!

16 comments:

ToddS said...

And so ends the geekiest blog post I'll ever read on a family blog. Well done!

Haley said...

good job getting her to open her mouth for the pic!

Janene said...

Wow! That is crazy. Cool pic.

annette said...

Cool about the epiglottis. . .but I am more impressed with those tonsils! And Shayne cooperating for the picture. . .simply a miracle!

Katreen said...

I just discovered the same thing in my daughters mouth (she'll be 3 Aug. 6th), but I'm a wreck about it. I've never seen that visible in a throat before. You weren't concerned? Did you take her into the doctor/ENT? I found tour post staying up all night looking for anything related to what it could be. I'm grateful you posted this, and would love to know if it her epiglottis is still visible and what the dr.'s said to you.

Unknown said...

Thank you for posting this. I noticed this last night in my two year old and FREAKED out! I called her doctor who told me to google epiglottis and click on images. I did and saw this beautiful little girl and in her throat is exactly what I saw in my daughter's. Ahhh, peace of mind.

YTWoman said...

Omigish, lmboooooo! I just kept googling til found this pic! Whew! Ok, so my daughter is not growing a second tongue...awesome :) God bless & goodnight.

sb4203 said...

You're a geek, but you just stopped our family from thinking our little girl had something very wrong with her. Many thanks

Bridget said...

I was so freaked out yesturday when my daughter opened her mouth and I could see her epiglottis!! After reading various contridicting posts, some saying that it can cause throat infections, I am so glad that I found yours! Thanks you for sharing!

Bridget said...

I was so freaked out yesturday when my daughter opened her mouth and I could see her epiglottis!! After reading various contridicting posts, some saying that it can cause throat infections, I am so glad that I found yours! Thanks you for sharing!

scully said...

When I saw this in the back of my granddaughter's mouth today, I had to find out what it was.
Thanks for setting my mind at ease.

Oma Stecher.

scully said...

When I saw this in the back of my granddaughter's mouth today, I had to find out what it was.
Thanks for setting my mind at ease.

Oma Stecher.

Puggirl said...

Thanks so much for posting! My husband and I thought something was wrong with our 3 year old! I can now tell him to relax :-)

Matt L said...

During a lecture, a pediatrician told us we could see the epiglottis in some children if they cooperate and open their mouths wide enough. This led me here. What a good kid! No tongue depressors for her. For all the concerned parents, this is normal anatomy.

Unknown said...

IVE BEEN CONCERNED. my 5 yr old has been having "frogs in her throat" and continually trying to clear her throat, and gagging ALOT to the point of throwing up. I checked the throat and found what i thought was a growth and have been freaking out. Could the "Epiglottis" cause any of these symptoms?

Kimberly A said...

Thank you so much for sharing!