Quick Facts
Origin: Styloid process of temporal bone.
Insertion: Body of hyoid bone.
Action: Elevates hyoid bone.
Innervation: Stylohyoid branch of facial nerve (CN VII).
Arterial Supply: Facial, posterior auricular, and occipital arteries.
Origin
The stylohyoid muscle is a thin muscle arising from the posterior aspect of the base of the styloid process of the temporal bone.
Insertion
The stylohyoid muscle extends in an anteroinferior direction and attaches to the body of the hyoid bone.
Key Features & Anatomical Relations
The stylohyoid muscle is pierced by the digastric muscle near its inferior end. Variation is common and the stylohyoid muscle may be absent or additional slips may be present (Tubbs, Shoja and Loukas, 2016).
Actions
The stylohyoid muscle elevates the hyoid bone and pulls it posteriorly (Standring, 2016).
References
Standring, S. (2016) Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice. Gray's Anatomy Series 41st edn.: Elsevier Limited.
Tubbs, R. S., Shoja, M. M. and Loukas, M. (2016) Bergman's Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation. Wiley.
