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Adam's apple

April 14, 2024

For other uses, see Adam's apple (disambiguation).

The Adam's apple is the protrusion in the neck formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx, typically visible in men, less frequently in women. The prominence of the Adam's apple increases in some men as a secondary male sex characteristic during puberty.[1]

Adam's apple
Front view of the Adam's apple (laryngeal prominence)
Details
Precursorfourth and sixth pharyngeal arches
Identifiers
Latinprominentia laryngea
TA98A06.2.02.003
TA2968
FMA55304
Anatomical terminology
[edit on Wikidata]

Structure edit

The topographic structure which is externally visible and colloquially called the "Adam's apple" is caused by an anatomical structure of the thyroid cartilage called the laryngeal prominence or laryngeal protuberance protruding and forming a "bump" under the skin at the front of the throat. All human beings with a normal anatomy have a laryngeal protuberance of the thyroid cartilage. This prominence is typically larger and more externally noticeable in adult males. There are two reasons for this phenomenon. Firstly, the structural size of the thyroid cartilage in males tends to increase during puberty,[2] and the laryngeal protuberance becomes more anteriorly focused. Secondly, the larynx, which the thyroid cartilage partially envelops, increases in size in male subjects during adolescence, moving the thyroid cartilage and its laryngeal protuberance towards the front of the neck. The adolescent development of both the larynx and the thyroid cartilage in males occur as a result of hormonal changes, especially the normal increase in testosterone production in adolescent males. In females, the laryngeal protuberance sits on the upper edge of the thyroid cartilage, and the larynx tends to be smaller in size, and so the "bump" caused by protrusion of the laryngeal protuberance is much less visible or not discernible.[3] Even so, many women display an externally visible protrusion of the thyroid cartilage, an "Adam's apple", to varying degrees which are usually minor, and this should not normally be viewed as a medical disorder.

Function edit

The Adam's apple, in relation with the thyroid cartilage which forms it, helps protect the walls and the frontal part of the larynx, including the vocal cords (which are located directly behind it).[4]

Another function of the Adam's apple is related to the deepening of the voice. During adolescence, the thyroid cartilage grows together with the larynx. Consequently, the laryngeal prominence grows in size mainly in men. Together, a larger soundboard is made up in phonation apparatus and, as a result, men get a deeper voice note.[5][6]

Society and culture edit

 
A diagram demonstrating a general outline of the feminization laryngoplasty (FemLar) surgical technique using a top-down horizontal cross section of the larynx. The area labeled "front" in each image is the Adam's Apple/Laryngeal Prominence. In a tracheal shave, superficial tissue at the front of the larynx is dissected and the general shape of the larynx's interior, along with the underlying vocal cords, are otherwise unaffected. In feminization laryngoplasty, the Adam's Apple is moved back even further by modifying the underlying vocal cords as well, and the voice and interior of the larynx are also affected.

While both men and women can possess an Adam's apple, the larger frequency of its appearance in men has led to the perception of the Adam's apple as an indicator of masculinity. As such, transgender women may choose to undergo cosmetic surgery to remove it from their necks, a process known as chondrolaryngoplasty, or colloquially as a "tracheal shave".[7] Transgender men may choose to augment and thereby enlarge the Adam's apple, a process known as masculinization.[8]

Chondrolaryngoplasty surgery is effective, and studies done by surgeons in Tel Aviv and Los Angeles have demonstrated complications to be few and, if present, transient.[9][10][7]

There is also an additional surgery available, feminization laryngoplasty, also known as "FemLar", which can safely reduce the Adam’s Apple to an extent greater than that which can be accomplished by a tracheal shave, given it explicitly operates on the vocal cords within the Adam’s Apple as opposed to avoiding them. However, feminization laryngoplasty is a reconstructive surgery that carries additional risks and has a very strong feminizing effect on the voice that may or may not be desirable to the patient.[11][12][13] There are also far fewer practitioners who are known to be currently performing FemLar as it is far newer than the tracheal shave procedure.

Etymology edit

 
An example of male laryngeal prominence (front view)
 
An example of male laryngeal prominence (side view)
 
An example of female laryngeal prominence (front view)
 
An example of female laryngeal prominence (side view)

The English term "Adam's apple" is a calque of Latin pomum Adami, which is found in European medical texts from as early as 1600.[14] "Adam's Apple" is found in a 1662 English translation of Thomas Bartholin's 1651 work Anatomia.[15]

The 1662 citation includes an explanation for the origin of the phrase: a piece of forbidden fruit was supposedly embedded in the throat of Adam, who according to the Abrahamic religions was the first man:[15]

the common people have a belief, that by the judgment of God, a part of that fatal Apple, abode sticking in Adams Throat, and is so communicated to his posterity

This etymology is also proposed by Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary.[16] The story is not found in the Bible or other Judeo-Christian or Islamic writings.[17]

Linguist Alexander Gode proposed in 1968 that the Latin phrase pomum Adami (literally: 'Adam's apple') was a mistranslation of the Hebrew "tappuach ha adam meaning 'male bump'".[18] The confusion was supposedly due to the fact that in the Hebrew language the proper name "Adam" (אדם) literally means "man", and the word for "apple", "tapuach", is similar to the word "tafuach" which means "swollen", thus in combination: the swelling of a man.[19][20]

The medical term "prominentia laryngea" (laryngeal prominence) was introduced by the Basle Nomina Anatomica in 1895.[21]

In the American South, "goozle" is used colloquially to describe the laryngeal prominence, likely derived from guzzle.[22][23][24][25]

Laryngeal prominence anatomy edit

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See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Fitzpatrick, Thomas H.; Siccardi, Marco A. (2022), "Anatomy, Head and Neck, Adam's Apple", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 30570975, retrieved 2023-03-19
  2. ^ . Medicine Online. Archived from the original on 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  3. ^ "Laringe". Sisbib.unmsm.edu.pe. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  4. ^ "Adam's Apple Reduction vs. Voice Feminization — Facialteam". 2022-04-27. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  5. ^ P. J. Bentley (1980), "Endocrine Pharmacology: Physiological Basis and Therapeutic Applications", CUP Archive, pág 240
  6. ^ . Esmas.com. Archived from the original on 2004-09-08. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  7. ^ a b "UCLA surgeons develop new technique to reduce Adam's apple without neck scar". UCLA. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  8. ^ Deschamps-Braly, Jordan C.; Sacher, Caitlin L.; Fick, Jennifer; Ousterhout, Douglas K. (April 2017). "First Female-to-Male Facial Confirmation Surgery with Description of a New Procedure for Masculinization of the Thyroid Cartilage (Adam's Apple)". Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 139 (4): 883e–887e. doi:10.1097/PRS.0000000000003185. ISSN 1529-4242. PMID 28350659. S2CID 25766890.
  9. ^ Wolfort FG, Dejerine ES, Ramos DJ, Parry RG (1990). "Chondrolaryngoplasty for appearance". Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 86 (3): 464–9, discussion 470. doi:10.1097/00006534-199009000-00012. PMID 2385664.
  10. ^ "How a New Scarless Surgery Could Affect Transgender Patients". Time. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  11. ^ Kim, Hyung-Tae (2020). "Vocal Feminization for Transgender Women: Current Strategies and Patient Perspectives". International Journal of General Medicine. 13. NIH: 43–52. doi:10.2147/IJGM.S205102. PMC 7024865. PMID 32104050.
  12. ^ Thomas, James Philip (2022). "Feminization Laryngoplasty - A Comprehensive Approach to Reducing the Size of the Larynx and Pharynx". Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America. 55 (4). NIH: 739–748. doi:10.1016/j.otc.2022.05.002. PMID 35750518. S2CID 249934885. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  13. ^ Thomas, James Philip. "Feminization Laryngoplasty - Surgical Creation of a Feminine Voice" (PDF). VoxDoc. James Philip Thomas. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  14. ^ du Laurens, André (1600). Historia Anatomica Humani Corporis. Paris. p. 510. Huius supreme pars βρόγχος, quibusdam vulgò morsus & pomum Adami appelatur.
  15. ^ a b Bartholin, Thomas (1662) [1651]. Bartholinus Anatomy. Translated by Culpeper, Nicholas; Cole, Abdiah. London: Peter Cole. p. 123. That same bunch which is seen on the foreside of the Neck, is called Adams Apple, because the common people have a belief, that by the judgment of God, a part of that fatal Apple, abode sticking in Adams Throat, and is so communicated to his posterity [Protuberantia illa in collo anterius conspicua, dicitur Pomum Adami; [quia vulgo persuasum in Adami faucibus pomi fatalis partem ex pœna Divina remansisse, & ad posteros translatam]]
  16. ^ E. Cobham Brewer (1810–1897). Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. "Adam's Apple"
  17. ^ George Crabb (1823), "Universal technological dictionary", Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, "Pomum Ada'mi"
  18. ^ Gode, Alexander (1968-10-28). "Just Words". JAMA. 206 (5): 1058. doi:10.1001/jama.1968.03150050046009.
  19. ^ William S. Haubrich (2003), "Medical Meanings: A Glossary of Word Origins", ACP Press, pág 5.
  20. ^ "Adam's apple". Medicine.academic.ru. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  21. ^ Axel Karenberg, Amor, Äskulap & Co.: klassische Mythologie in der Sprache der modernen Medizin, Schattauer, Stuttgart 2006, S. 128-129.
  22. ^ Morris, Evan (November 2008). "Goozle « The Word Detective". The Word Detective. Retrieved 22 December 2014. If we follow 'goozle' back a bit further, we come to an interesting intersection with a far more common word, 'guzzle.'
  23. ^ Roy Blount Jr. (29 September 2009). Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics, and Essences; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-1-4299-6042-7. The Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English defines google (or goozle) as 'the throat, Adam's apple.'
  24. ^ Roy Wilder (1 September 1998). You All Spoken Here. University of Georgia Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-8203-2029-8. Adam's apple; goozle; the projection formed by the thyroid cartilage in the neck.
  25. ^ "Goozle". Dictionary of American Regional English. Harvard College. Retrieved 28 November 2020. The throat as a whole, or spec the gullet, windpipe, or Adam's apple. chiefly South, South Midland

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laryngeal prominence.
  • at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University)

April 14, 2024
adam, apple, other, uses, disambiguation, protrusion, neck, formed, angle, thyroid, cartilage, surrounding, larynx, typically, visible, less, frequently, women, prominence, increases, some, secondary, male, characteristic, during, puberty, front, view, larynge. For other uses see Adam s apple disambiguation The Adam s apple is the protrusion in the neck formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx typically visible in men less frequently in women The prominence of the Adam s apple increases in some men as a secondary male sex characteristic during puberty 1 Adam s appleFront view of the Adam s apple laryngeal prominence DetailsPrecursorfourth and sixth pharyngeal archesIdentifiersLatinprominentia laryngeaTA98A06 2 02 003TA2968FMA55304Anatomical terminology edit on Wikidata Contents 1 Structure 2 Function 3 Society and culture 4 Etymology 5 Laryngeal prominence anatomy 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksStructure editThis section needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources Please review the contents of the section and add the appropriate references if you can Unsourced or poorly sourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Adam s apple news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2022 nbsp The topographic structure which is externally visible and colloquially called the Adam s apple is caused by an anatomical structure of the thyroid cartilage called the laryngeal prominence or laryngeal protuberance protruding and forming a bump under the skin at the front of the throat All human beings with a normal anatomy have a laryngeal protuberance of the thyroid cartilage This prominence is typically larger and more externally noticeable in adult males There are two reasons for this phenomenon Firstly the structural size of the thyroid cartilage in males tends to increase during puberty 2 and the laryngeal protuberance becomes more anteriorly focused Secondly the larynx which the thyroid cartilage partially envelops increases in size in male subjects during adolescence moving the thyroid cartilage and its laryngeal protuberance towards the front of the neck The adolescent development of both the larynx and the thyroid cartilage in males occur as a result of hormonal changes especially the normal increase in testosterone production in adolescent males In females the laryngeal protuberance sits on the upper edge of the thyroid cartilage and the larynx tends to be smaller in size and so the bump caused by protrusion of the laryngeal protuberance is much less visible or not discernible 3 Even so many women display an externally visible protrusion of the thyroid cartilage an Adam s apple to varying degrees which are usually minor and this should not normally be viewed as a medical disorder Function editThe Adam s apple in relation with the thyroid cartilage which forms it helps protect the walls and the frontal part of the larynx including the vocal cords which are located directly behind it 4 Another function of the Adam s apple is related to the deepening of the voice During adolescence the thyroid cartilage grows together with the larynx Consequently the laryngeal prominence grows in size mainly in men Together a larger soundboard is made up in phonation apparatus and as a result men get a deeper voice note 5 6 Society and culture edit nbsp A diagram demonstrating a general outline of the feminization laryngoplasty FemLar surgical technique using a top down horizontal cross section of the larynx The area labeled front in each image is the Adam s Apple Laryngeal Prominence In a tracheal shave superficial tissue at the front of the larynx is dissected and the general shape of the larynx s interior along with the underlying vocal cords are otherwise unaffected In feminization laryngoplasty the Adam s Apple is moved back even further by modifying the underlying vocal cords as well and the voice and interior of the larynx are also affected While both men and women can possess an Adam s apple the larger frequency of its appearance in men has led to the perception of the Adam s apple as an indicator of masculinity As such transgender women may choose to undergo cosmetic surgery to remove it from their necks a process known as chondrolaryngoplasty or colloquially as a tracheal shave 7 Transgender men may choose to augment and thereby enlarge the Adam s apple a process known as masculinization 8 Chondrolaryngoplasty surgery is effective and studies done by surgeons in Tel Aviv and Los Angeles have demonstrated complications to be few and if present transient 9 10 7 There is also an additional surgery available feminization laryngoplasty also known as FemLar which can safely reduce the Adam s Apple to an extent greater than that which can be accomplished by a tracheal shave given it explicitly operates on the vocal cords within the Adam s Apple as opposed to avoiding them However feminization laryngoplasty is a reconstructive surgery that carries additional risks and has a very strong feminizing effect on the voice that may or may not be desirable to the patient 11 12 13 There are also far fewer practitioners who are known to be currently performing FemLar as it is far newer than the tracheal shave procedure Etymology edit nbsp An example of male laryngeal prominence front view nbsp An example of male laryngeal prominence side view nbsp An example of female laryngeal prominence front view nbsp An example of female laryngeal prominence side view The English term Adam s apple is a calque of Latin pomum Adami which is found in European medical texts from as early as 1600 14 Adam s Apple is found in a 1662 English translation of Thomas Bartholin s 1651 work Anatomia 15 The 1662 citation includes an explanation for the origin of the phrase a piece of forbidden fruit was supposedly embedded in the throat of Adam who according to the Abrahamic religions was the first man 15 the common people have a belief that by the judgment of God a part of that fatal Apple abode sticking in Adams Throat and is so communicated to his posterityThis etymology is also proposed by Brewer s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and the 1913 edition of Webster s Dictionary 16 The story is not found in the Bible or other Judeo Christian or Islamic writings 17 Linguist Alexander Gode proposed in 1968 that the Latin phrase pomum Adami literally Adam s apple was a mistranslation of the Hebrew tappuach ha adam meaning male bump 18 The confusion was supposedly due to the fact that in the Hebrew language the proper name Adam אדם literally means man and the word for apple tapuach is similar to the word tafuach which means swollen thus in combination the swelling of a man 19 20 The medical term prominentia laryngea laryngeal prominence was introduced by the Basle Nomina Anatomica in 1895 21 In the American South goozle is used colloquially to describe the laryngeal prominence likely derived from guzzle 22 23 24 25 Laryngeal prominence anatomy edit nbsp nbsp nbsp See also editHyoid boneReferences edit Fitzpatrick Thomas H Siccardi Marco A 2022 Anatomy Head and Neck Adam s Apple StatPearls Treasure Island FL StatPearls Publishing PMID 30570975 retrieved 2023 03 19 Prominentia laryngea Medicine Online Archived from the original on 2013 12 25 Retrieved 2013 02 27 Laringe Sisbib unmsm edu pe Retrieved 2013 02 27 Adam s Apple Reduction vs Voice Feminization Facialteam 2022 04 27 Retrieved 2023 04 13 P J Bentley 1980 Endocrine Pharmacology Physiological Basis and Therapeutic Applications CUP Archive pag 240 Pubertad nuestras diferencias Esmas com Archived from the original on 2004 09 08 Retrieved 2013 02 27 a b UCLA surgeons develop new technique to reduce Adam s apple without neck scar UCLA Retrieved 2023 01 02 Deschamps Braly Jordan C Sacher Caitlin L Fick Jennifer Ousterhout Douglas K April 2017 First Female to Male Facial Confirmation Surgery with Description of a New Procedure for Masculinization of the Thyroid Cartilage Adam s Apple Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 139 4 883e 887e doi 10 1097 PRS 0000000000003185 ISSN 1529 4242 PMID 28350659 S2CID 25766890 Wolfort FG Dejerine ES Ramos DJ Parry RG 1990 Chondrolaryngoplasty for appearance Plast Reconstr Surg 86 3 464 9 discussion 470 doi 10 1097 00006534 199009000 00012 PMID 2385664 How a New Scarless Surgery Could Affect Transgender Patients Time Retrieved 2023 01 02 Kim Hyung Tae 2020 Vocal Feminization for Transgender Women Current Strategies and Patient Perspectives International Journal of General Medicine 13 NIH 43 52 doi 10 2147 IJGM S205102 PMC 7024865 PMID 32104050 Thomas James Philip 2022 Feminization Laryngoplasty A Comprehensive Approach to Reducing the Size of the Larynx and Pharynx Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America 55 4 NIH 739 748 doi 10 1016 j otc 2022 05 002 PMID 35750518 S2CID 249934885 Retrieved 2 September 2023 Thomas James Philip Feminization Laryngoplasty Surgical Creation of a Feminine Voice PDF VoxDoc James Philip Thomas Retrieved 2 September 2023 du Laurens Andre 1600 Historia Anatomica Humani Corporis Paris p 510 Huius supreme pars brogxos quibusdam vulgo morsus amp pomum Adami appelatur a b Bartholin Thomas 1662 1651 Bartholinus Anatomy Translated by Culpeper Nicholas Cole Abdiah London Peter Cole p 123 That same bunch which is seen on the foreside of the Neck is called Adams Apple because the common people have a belief that by the judgment of God a part of that fatal Apple abode sticking in Adams Throat and is so communicated to his posterity Protuberantia illa in collo anterius conspicua dicitur Pomum Adami quia vulgo persuasum in Adami faucibus pomi fatalis partem ex pœna Divina remansisse amp ad posteros translatam E Cobham Brewer 1810 1897 Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 1898 Adam s Apple George Crabb 1823 Universal technological dictionary Baldwin Cradock and Joy Pomum Ada mi Gode Alexander 1968 10 28 Just Words JAMA 206 5 1058 doi 10 1001 jama 1968 03150050046009 William S Haubrich 2003 Medical Meanings A Glossary of Word Origins ACP Press pag 5 Adam s apple Medicine academic ru Retrieved 2013 02 27 Axel Karenberg Amor Askulap amp Co klassische Mythologie in der Sprache der modernen Medizin Schattauer Stuttgart 2006 S 128 129 Morris Evan November 2008 Goozle The Word Detective The Word Detective Retrieved 22 December 2014 If we follow goozle back a bit further we come to an interesting intersection with a far more common word guzzle Roy Blount Jr 29 September 2009 Alphabet Juice The Energies Gists and Spirits of Letters Words and Combinations Thereof Their Roots Bones Innards Piths Pips and Secret Parts Tinctures Tonics and Essences With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory Farrar Straus and Giroux ISBN 978 1 4299 6042 7 The Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English defines google or goozle as the throat Adam s apple Roy Wilder 1 September 1998 You All Spoken Here University of Georgia Press p 55 ISBN 978 0 8203 2029 8 Adam s apple goozle the projection formed by the thyroid cartilage in the neck Goozle Dictionary of American Regional English Harvard College Retrieved 28 November 2020 The throat as a whole or spec the gullet windpipe or Adam s apple chiefly South South MidlandExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laryngeal prominence Lesson 11 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman Georgetown University Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Adam 27s apple amp oldid 1215741320, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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