Function

The main function of the soft palate is to separate the mouth from the pharyngeal cavity and the associated separation of the air and food passages. During the act of swallowing, the soft palate is pressed by the Musculus constrictor pharyngis against a bulge of the back wall of the throat. This provides a kind of closure during swallowing, which ensures that no food or liquids enter the airway.

The muscles tensor veli palatini and levator veli palatini always provide pressure equalization when swallowing or yawning. In addition to the function of the soft palate during the swallowing cycle, it also plays an important role in articulation. When speaking, the soft palate is raised and is also pressed against the bulge of the posterior wall of the throat.

In this way, the nasal cavity is separated from the mouth and throat. The airflow coming from the lungs can flow unhindered through the throat and mouth. This results in oral sounds.

If the oral cavity is closed, nasal sounds can result, since the phonation flow can now flow out through the nose. Nasal vowels are produced when the velum, i.e. the soft palate, is lowered, allowing the airflow from the lungs to escape simultaneously via the mouth and nose. A sound of the soft palate is called velar or velarer sound in the technical language of phonetics.

It is a speech sound that is produced at the soft palate, lat. velum palatinum. A distinction is made between articulation with a complete closure of the back of the tongue with the soft palate and articulation in which the back of the tongue approaches the soft palate very closely.

In the field of phonetics, sounds are therefore characterized by the position of the back of the tongue during articulation. The soft palate, i.e. the velum, can be lowered and air also flows out or is lifted through the nasal cavity. In the latter case, the air flows exclusively through the oral cavity.

The soft palate is thus a place of articulation. This means that it is a movement target for the speech organs, such as the tongue, which are movable relative to the soft palate.A velar, i.e. a sound of the soft palate, is formed, for example, by the -ng sound in German. If the tonicity of the muscles of the upper respiratory tract decreases during sleep, the muscles and surrounding tissue relax.

This leads to a narrowing of the airways and turbulence in the air we breathe. The flaccid soft palate and the uvula begin to oscillate due to the airflow. The characteristic snoring sounds are produced.

Both anatomical conditions, such as the position of the tongue to the back wall of the throat or a very large uvula, and age-related changes can be the cause of snoring. There are two different types of snoring. One speaks of a so-called primary or simple snoring, as long as the breathing rhythm or the own sleep quality is not affected.

Primary snoring is not dangerous for the snorer himself. However, if snoring is accompanied by breathing stops, it is called obstructive or apneic snoring. The body reacts to the short-term loss of oxygen with a reflex-like activation of the respiratory muscles and increased activity of the heart.

This type of snoring as a possible consequence of a disease or change in the soft palate can have serious consequences for health. In any case, those affected should consult a doctor. Swelling of the soft palate can have several different causes.

In most cases, the swelling has spread and affects not only the soft palate but also other areas of the mouth or throat. Among these are: Allergic reactions do not only appear on the skin. Also the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat area react very sensitively to allergies and can swell.

Inflammations caused by bacterial or viral infections can also cause swelling of the soft palate. In the case of an infection, the swelling of the soft palate and the swelling in surrounding areas are often accompanied by difficulty swallowing, fever and other symptoms of an infection. Treatment of the swollen soft palate always depends on the cause.

These include cooling for burns, antibiotics for infections or home remedies to combat the cause.

Burns from hot food or drinks
Bacterial or viral infections
Allergic reactions

An inflammation of the soft palate is often accompanied by inflammation and swelling of the uvula. Frequently, it is inflammation of the pharynx, especially the tonsils or the oral mucosa, which spreads to the soft palate.

The inflammation of the soft palate can also be caused by tonsillitis. Inflammations of the soft palate, which are usually accompanied by redness, swelling, warming and pain in the affected area, are usually treated by the treating physician with antibiotics. The typical symptoms of inflammation are usually accompanied by fever and difficulty swallowing.

In the case of an inflammation, it is essential to consult a doctor to fight the cause of the inflammation. Antibiotics are unavoidable in most cases. The use of home remedies is suitable as a supportive therapy in case of inflammation.

However, they do not replace the need for antibiotics. Paresis of the soft palate is a paralysis of the soft palate in medical terminology. A distinction is made between unilateral, i.e.

unilateral, and bilateral, i.e. bilateral paresis. Paresis of the soft palate can result from an injury to the vagus nerve, the 10th cranial nerve. Furthermore, palatine paresis can also be a late complication of diphtheria (= an infectious disease caused by a certain pathogen).

In the symptomatology, unilateral soft palate paresis expresses itself through a so-called scenery phenomenon. This describes the deviation of the back wall of the pharynx towards the healthy side, because the pharyngeal muscles (= pharyngeal muscles) have lost their functionality. A bilateral paresis of the soft palate usually results in disturbances of the swallowing process (dysphagia) or a loss of voice. The reason for this lies in the lack of separation of the mouth from the nasopharyngeal cavity during speech and swallowing.