What is that dangly thing called at the back of the mouth?

Factual Questions
1

I am sure this must have been answered here before but I sure couldn’t find it. Even Google let me down. What is that thing that dangles down from the soft palate at the very back of the mouth??

The reason I want to know is because this morning I awoke with a weird feeling at the back of mouth and after gargling a bit that dangly thing came unstuck from the back of my throat. Weird thing is it is now about 3 or 4 times longer than normal. No kidding, I can now bite it with my back teeth, it’s that long now. Yesterday it was fine. My wife says I was snoring like a crazed pig all night. My guess is I must have snored way too much and stretched that dangly thing way beyond any normal human scale. It’s bugging the hell outta me and makes me gag. Will it recover or I need to get it chopped off?

2

The uvuala

I know nothing about its physiology, so I can’t tell you the likelihood of you suffocating in your sleep or whether you need a prosthetic uvula.

3

Uvula

4

The uvuala

I know nothing about its physiology, so I can’t tell you the likelihood of you suffocating in your sleep or whether you need a prosthetic uvula.

5

Uvulopharyngoplasty, surgery where they remove the uvula, is a common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea.

6

“It’ll behoove ya to care for your uvula”

  • motto of the National Uvula Foundation