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# Stylohyoid

The stylohyoid is a slim neck muscle from a bony spike under the ear (the styloid process) to the hyoid bone; it pulls the hyoid up and back.

Official name: Stylohyoid muscle

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## What it is

A slim muscle from the styloid process to the hyoid.

## What it does

Pulls the hyoid up and back.

## Key points

- One of three muscles from the styloid process, each with a different nerve: stylohyoid (facial nerve), styloglossus (hypoglossal nerve), stylopharyngeus ([glossopharyngeal nerve](https://durgical.com/en/anatomy/glossopharyngeal-nerve/))
- Runs with the upper border of the posterior belly of the digastric; both are supplied by the facial nerve just after it leaves the [stylomastoid foramen](https://durgical.com/en/anatomy/stylomastoid-foramen/)
- Crosses superficial to the external and internal carotid arteries, like the posterior belly of the digastric

## Key facts

**Origin**
Styloid process

**Insertion**
Body of the hyoid (splits around the digastric tendon)

**Action**
Elevates and retracts the hyoid

**Nerve**
Facial nerve (CN VII)

**Blood supply**
Facial and occipital arteries

## Relations

**Course**
From the back of the styloid process it runs down and forward along the posterior belly of the [digastric](https://durgical.com/en/anatomy/anterior-belly-of-digastric-muscle/) to the junction of the body and greater horn of the [hyoid bone](https://durgical.com/en/anatomy/hyoid-bone/)

**Superficial**
[Parotid gland](https://durgical.com/en/anatomy/parotid-gland/) above; the [facial nerve](https://durgical.com/en/anatomy/facial-nerve/) trunk crosses lateral to the styloid process near its origin

**Deep**
External and internal [carotid arteries](https://durgical.com/en/anatomy/common-carotid-artery/), the [internal jugular vein](https://durgical.com/en/anatomy/internal-jugular-vein/) and the [hypoglossal nerve](https://durgical.com/en/anatomy/hypoglossal-nerve/)

## How to find it

It cannot be felt. In parotid and upper neck surgery it is the slim muscle running with the posterior belly of the digastric; the facial nerve trunk lies above and lateral to it, at the styloid process.

## On imaging

Too slim to follow on most scans; CT and MRI find it running with the posterior belly of the digastric from the styloid process to the hyoid. The styloid process is the landmark to check: CT with 3D reconstruction shows an elongated styloid or a calcified stylohyoid ligament (Eagle syndrome) in a person with throat or neck pain on turning the head.

## Clinical notes

- Eagle syndrome: an elongated styloid process or a calcified stylohyoid ligament causes throat pain, pain on swallowing or turning the head, or a foreign-body feeling; a vascular form presses on the carotid arteries
- Its small branch from the facial nerve, given off just below the stylomastoid foramen, helps the surgeon trace back to the main trunk in parotidectomy

## Anatomical variants

- It may be absent or doubled, or pass beside rather than around the intermediate tendon of the digastric

## Development

From the second pharyngeal arch (hence the facial nerve), as are the stylohyoid ligament and the lesser horn of the hyoid bone.

## Test yourself

Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.

## Which nerve supplies the stylohyoid, and which nerves supply the other two muscles from the styloid process?

Stylohyoid: facial nerve; styloglossus: hypoglossal nerve; stylopharyngeus: glossopharyngeal nerve.

## Which muscle does the stylohyoid accompany and split around near the hyoid?

The posterior belly of the digastric: the stylohyoid splits around its intermediate tendon before inserting on the hyoid body.

## What is Eagle syndrome?

Throat or swallowing pain, or a foreign-body feeling, from an elongated styloid process or a calcified stylohyoid ligament; a vascular form presses on the carotids.

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Educational information, not medical advice. For any symptom, see a health professional.

## Its names

**Official Latin (TA2)**
musculus stylohyoideus TA2 2164

**Official Spanish (DeCS)**
Músculo estilohioideo

**English (TA2)**
Stylohyoid muscle

## Related

- [Facial nerve (VII)](https://durgical.com/en/anatomy/facial-nerve/)

Sources: Terminologia Anatomica (TA2); [Anatomy, Head and Neck, Stylohyoid Muscle](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK547653/); [Anatomy, Head and Neck: Suprahyoid Muscle](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546710/).

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