What is this muscle called?

Must be a unique trait passed on genetically from parents. I don’t have that ability.

But I think you probably do, you just don’t realize it. You involuntarily close that muscle when you swallow.

I doubt that, @RedDeerGuy1, I can do it, but mostly without awareness.

“Without awareness.” Exactly. But if you learn to control it it’s a life saver in many situations! I wish I knew what it was called.

Thorax?

Soft palate?

No LOL. The thorax is our chest.
No, not the soft palate. It’s above that. Epiglottis comes to mind…it’s in that area, but I don’t think that’s it. In fact….I’m not even sure what an epiglottis is!

Uvala? Tonsils? I am curious I will follow this question.

My tonsils are gone. I traded them for an It doll in 1965..

I don’t know what a uvala is, unless you mean “vulva,” which is a bit of girl parts. No..wait…you mean uvula. No, that’s not it. I don’t think the uvula has any muscle structure. It just hangs around.

I finally found this….. Epiglottis looks right….but what I feel seems to be a side to side closing, like two doors sliding shut, but it’s right in there so… IDK.

Is anybody out there practicing with this?!?

Does it look like this?

We’re in social, right?

Epiglottis is too low. The uvala is the thing that hangs down in the back of your mouth.

I think you are one of the few people who can purposely close your soft palate onto the roof of your nasal cavity thereby blocking off your posterior nasal aperture. This requires an unusually pliable soft palate. Here is the anatomy.

@Call_Me_Jay Yes, we are in social. All my questions are in social. If I post in General it’s because I’m in jail or kidnapped and need some serious help.
No, it doesn’t look like that, but it kind of works like that. HISSSS!

@Espiritus_Corvus You may very well be right, but in this diagram, the epiglottis is right under the root of the the tongue, and that’s where it is.

Well, damn. I’ve got my thumb in my mouth, the ball gently touching the soft palate..and I think you’re right.
Well, doesn’t everyone’s soft palate close on the roof of their nasal cavity when they swallow?

@Dutchess_III I’ve been trying this out for about an hour and I do believe I’m able to do it. I’m going snorkeling tomorrow. I’ll let you know. This is pretty cool.

It’s the soft palate.

Didn’t know the name, but I know exactly what you’re talking about. I can close and open mine at will. Can’t breathe through your nose when it’s closed. What’s interesting is that my sister, growing up, could never understand how I could jump into water without plugging my nose or why I could swim under water without blowing air out of plugging my nose. What you’re talking about is exactly why, and she apparently can’t close it off at all – not even when she threw up. Which, as you can imagine, made throwing up that much worse for her and is precisely why she’s only done it once in the last 15 years or so.

I think its the soft palate as well. I tried doing it and you are correct. I think I know what you are talking about. If you press your tongue up in that spot you can feel the muscles along your neck create like a vacuum effect and shut off breathing. It’s something people do when they have the desire to breathe but are afraid of taking in water before they get to the surface.
Ah, wait, it may be the epiglottis. It is what diverts water from going into our lungs when we drink liquids. It lays right behind the tongue.

@Pandora & @DrasticDreamer, I thought it was the epiglottis too, but I’m 98% sure that @Espiritus_Corvus is correct. It’s the soft palate. As I said, I carefully placed the ball of my thumb on the soft palate and plugged my nose, and the palate was, indeed, the part that moved up. Then I started gagging so I had to stop.

I’m also pretty sure that almost everyone can control it consciously, they just never thought to. @Espiritus said he’s been practicing for an hour and he thinks he has it!

It is pretty cool @Espiritus_Corvus. Next time you find yourself in a situation where something smells nasty, you can block that smell off, and amaze your friends with how much it doesn’t bother you! Warning however….I’ve had experiences with real outhouses, not those sanitized portapotties. You come out of there, having not smelt a thing, but the instant you release that soft palate you are very aware that you can “taste” it in your mouth! It is nasty.

@Dutchess_III , I taught my kids by blowing in their face before I would dunk them under when they were babies

I did that too, but that just causes them to hold their breath all the way around, not just with the soft palate.

What’s to be 98% about @Dutchess_III?
I posted a link that clearly shows it’s the soft palate.
It had never occurred to me that using the soft palate to close the sinus cavity was anything but a universal human trait.

@Dutchess_III No, yeah, I completely agree. Both @Espiritus_Corvus and @ibstubro were right about what it is.

Well, now ya know @ibstubro. I always took it for granted too, until I realized most people don’t know they can do it.

I think it highly possible that the question was being asked in such a way that the soft palate seemed more special or mysterious than it is.

When I was a kid, I hated cooked carrots (still do), and all it took was my sister saying, “Just breathe through your mouth” for me to understand that I wouldn’t taste what I couldn’t smell. Or is that a whole nother can of worms?

I didn’t word the question any particular way, @ibstubro. I didn’t’ know what it was, and didn’t know how to describe it. Sorry if it seemed misleading, like I was making a mystery out of the soft palate. Now that I have the answer, because I asked the question, it’s obvious to me.

No, it’s all related. As I said above, occasionally I come across those old fashioned, truly nasty out houses. I plug up my nose while I’m in there, but after I come out, and let my nose breath again I can literally taste the shit for the next few breaths! And it is nasty!