Acoustic reflex contraction of the stapedius muscle stiffens the middle-ear, thus decreasing middle-ear admittance; this can be measured thanks to tympanometry. The acoustic stapedius reflex can also be recorded by means of extratympanic manometry (ETM). As the stapedius muscle is innervated by the facial nerve, a measurement of the reflex can be used to locate the injury on the nerve. If the injury is distal to the stapedius muscle, the reflex is still functional. A measurement of the reflex can also be used to suggest a retrocochlear lesion (e.g., vestibular schwannoma, acoustic neuroma). The acoustic reflex normally occurs only at relatively high
History of beliefs about the human body much on discourse about bodies, rather than on material bodies themselves. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin's 1965 "Rabelais and His World", they promoted a more materially orientated direction in the history of the body. The Ebers Papyrus is an Egyptian medical text and is the oldest known record of the human body, dating back to 3000 BC. The Ebers Papyrus describes the body by physical examination and what can be felt. Clinical investigations such as the Pulse, percussion of the body, the recognition of diseased or disordered states. “If thou examinst a swelling of the covering of his belly’s horns above