Features

• Teeming with muscle fibers, the tongue is nearly all muscle. The organ has two aspects: the oral and pharyngeal (throat). The oral part is divided into the tip, blade, front, center and back. The pharyngeal aspect is the portion of the tongue that dips into the throat.
  
  The throat (pharynx), of course, is directly behind the mouth and below the nasal cavity. It's situated above the esophagus and windpipe (trachea). This passageway is talked about in terms of three major areas: the upper (nasopharynx), middle (oropharynx) and lower (hypopharynx). Thanks to this elegant conduit, food makes its way to the esophagus, and air floats along to the lungs.
  
  

Tongue Structures

• A structure called the lingual membrane coats the tongue, but in a good way. Teeny projections known as papillae literally pepper the membrane's surface, providing the nubbly texture anyone who has a tongue is familiar with. The taste buds--roughly 9,000 of them in all, including the ones found in the throat and palate--lurk at the back, sides and tip of the tongue, indicating the distinct flavors of bitter, salty, sweet and sour, in addition to toffee, pesto, Twinkie and martini.
  
  

Throat Structures

• The throat is tricked out with a slippery lining of mucous as well as hairlike projections (cilia). The cilia move dirt particles trapped in the mucus down the esophagus. Both sides of the back of the mouth are equipped with tonsils, and the adenoids take their place at the back of the nasal cavity. The lymph tissue in these structures battles infection, and if they're removed in childhood, lymph nodes in the head and neck step up to the plate.
  
  The uvula, the punching bag flanked by the tonsils at the back of the throat, is part of the soft palate. It aids in preventing food and liquid from rushing into the nasal cavity and helps form some sounds when you talk. The voice box (larynx) is positioned atop the trachea. There you'll find the vocal cords and the locus of speech and song. Slightly above and in front of the larynx is the epiglottis, which covers the opening to the larynx to prevent food from entering the trachea, thereby protecting the lungs.
  
  

Taste Bud Primer

• Receptor cells are what give taste buds their form. Each one possesses a microvillus, a hairlike projection. These cells are linked to a series of nerve fibers that telegraph a particular taste sensation, along with olfactory data from the nose--the true organ of taste, as it happens--to the nerve bundles in the brain. According to the Better Health Channel, the sense of smell is roughly 10,000 times more powerful than that of taste. It's no wonder many food flavors are indistinguishable when you have a cold!
  
  

Tongue and Throat Disorders

• The tongue works beautifully most of the time. But occasionally, there can be problems. Some disorders of the tongue include loss of taste, black hairy tongue and glossodynia. Loss of taste can result when the facial nerve is damaged or from certain medications. Black hairy tongue is rare but tends to stem from poor hygiene: The cells of the tongue are kept from shedding. And glossodynia is characterized by a burning sensation often caused by local infections, damage to the nerves of the mouth and vitamin deficiencies.
  
  Throat conditions are more common than tongue conditions, and most are easily treatable. You're likely to have experienced a sore throat. Viral infection is often the culprit, but there are other causes, such as strep bacteria or allergies as well as stomach acid regurgitation, called gastric reflux. Tonsillitis is common among children, and there's pharyngitis, inflammation of the pharynx, and throat and esophageal cancers.