The Mystery of the Tilting Arytenoids

In case you would’ve been confused by the arytenoids tilting back in the drawing on the Cricothyroid Muscle… They don’t anymore! If you have bought a license for this drawing,  I have loaded the updated version in your account and you should’ve received an email about this. If you haven’t downloaded it before February 27th 2020, your access has expired. Contact me to renew your access!

What’s new?

In the new drawing, the arytenoid cartilages don’t tilt backward, because… Well… they don’t :-) I have been taught during 1 of my high quality educations (…) that they do, in order to assist the lengthening of the vocal folds. Some literature still mentions this, but after extensive research and discussions with experts, I have concluded that that literature is outdated.

We now know that the vocal folds lengthen because of the downward tilt of the thyroid cartilage OR the upward tilt of the cricoid cartilage. That’s still an ongoing discussion, so for now, I’ll keep both scenarios in this drawing. As the arytenoid cartilages sit on the cricoid cartilage, they obviously do tilt backward along with the rear part of the cricoid cartilage. But they don’t tilt more than that

I have removed the tags oblique line (of the thyroid cartilage) and corniculate cartilages, because they were not necessary to understand the drawing. I want to keep the information input for your students, clients and patients simple, in function of clarity.

I have added CT muscle to the tags “straight part” & “oblique part”.

I’m quite sure I’ll have to update more drawings in the future, as science keeps on moving forward… I’ll keep you posted!

And as always: Feel free to send me thoughts, suggestions, feedback,…

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“Wow, Sarah! Congratulations on doing a tremendous job on this project. You’ve created a collection of beautiful, accurate anatomical illustrations that show just the right amount of detail, illuminated by clear labels. Thank you for providing a set of tools that will help the next generations to feel a lot more confident in their understanding of vocal anatomy.”

Dr. Claudia FriedlanderVoice teacher & Fitness Expert

“Super beautiful work, Sarah! Congratulations, I admire your commitment and knowledge.”

Prof. dr. Tom van HoofSpecialist human anatomy

“Beautiful work! Your drawings are thoroughly thought through, anatomically accurate, and especially excellent for didactic purposes.”

Dr. Dan DevosCardiovascular Radiologist

“You did a tremendous job, everything looks very professional and correct! Congratulations and good luck with the project!”

Dr. Mieke MoermanENT Surgeon, Laryngologist, Phoniatrician

“You have created simple drawings that capture all the important elements for teaching voice. I will be using these! You’ve done a lot of hard work and congratulations are in order!”

Kerrie ObertVoice Teacher, Adjunct Instructor & Clinical Voice Pathologist

On the different races: “My goodness… Never, ever, ever had the feeling of seeing us represented like this! Your work is beautiful, it makes me cry… I’m so used to never seeing someone make the effort to be inclusive. Bless you, Sarah”

James DarganSinger, composer, poet, essayist, translator, liturgist, artivist, etc.

“Your drawings are the best I’ve ever seen. They only show relevant info, unlike medical drawings that show everything – which might be confusing for students. The colour coding is also great, as it makes it even more specific.”

Tine VerbekeVoice tutor at BIMM Dublin