Did you know the smallest muscle in the body is located in the ear? Called the stapedius, it is said to be less than 2 mm long. It supports the smallest bone in the body, called the stapes, which is part of the middle ear and helps conduct vibrations to the inner ear. Its purpose is to stabilise the smallest bone in the body.
The stapedius dampens the vibrations of the stapes by pulling on the neck of that bone. As one of the muscles involved in the acoustic reflex it prevents excess movement of the stapes, helping to control the amplitude of sound waves from the general external environment to the inner ear.
If there is damage to the nerve to stapedius, wider oscillations of the stapes will occur resulting in hyperacusis—sounds being perceived as extremely loud, more so than they actually are to a person without damage to this nerve.
Picture Credit : Google
