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Tensor tympani
Other Terms:
Eustachian muscle,
Musculus tensor tympani,
Muscle tenseur du tympan
Muscle parts
None
Latin name
Musculus tensor tympani
Latin muscle parts
None
Group
Branchial arch muscle – first arch (Muscle of auditory ossicles)
Etymology
The English name for this muscle is the muscle that stretches the drum. The word tensor comes from the Latin verb tendere meaning “to stretch.” The word tympani is from the Greek tympanon, which means the “drum.”
Origin
Cartilaginous wall of the pharyngotympanic tube and the adjacent surface of the greater wing of the sphenoid bone
Insertion
Base of the handle of the malleus on the medial side
Action
Pulls the malleus and tympanic membrane medially thus pushing the stapes into the oval window; actions help dampen loud sounds.
Nerve supply
Mandibular branch of trigeminal nerve (Cranial nerve V)
Blood supply
After entering the cranial vault the middle meningeal artery from the first part of the maxillary artery gives off a small branch, the superior tympanic artery, that runs in the canal for the tensor tympani and supplies the muscle.
Latin
Musculus tensor tympani
French
Muscle tenseur du tympan
