Esophagus

digestion · human body · muscles

Wave-like squeezes. Your esophagus uses special muscles to squeeze food down in a rippling motion called peristalsis, kind of like how a snake moves through grass.

The food highway. This tube is about 10 inches long in adults and connects your mouth to your stomach, sitting right behind your windpipe and heart.

Safety gatekeeper. A flap called the epiglottis flips backwards when you swallow to make sure food goes down the food pipe and not into your lungs, protecting your airway.

Vertical journey. Your esophagus travels down through a big muscle called the diaphragm before opening into the top of your stomach to deliver the food.