Why don’t women have Adam’s apples？

亚当的苹果，是喉结的隐喻说法。大多数人认为，男性才有喉结，女性没有，真相是什么呢？

If youre unfamiliar with the term， an “Adams apple” is the lump you can sometimes see in the middle of a mans throat. It gets its name from the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. According to legend， Adam got a piece of the forbidden fruit stuck in his throat， and all men following have evidence of that event in the form of an Adams apple .

Thats folklore. But in reality， the Adams apple is a result of a boys voice box （larynx） growing. The noticeable bump starts to become evident during puberty， when the voice box gets bigger. This enlargement is what causes the voice to deepen.

Girls larynxes grow， too， often just not as much. As a result， teenage girls and women tend to have higher voices than their male counterparts， and they usually dont have Adams apples. However， some women do have visible ones.

The appearance of an Adams apple （or what looks like one） in a woman could be due to any number of reasons. Sometimes， its an anatomical anomaly， genetic trait or the result of a hormonal imbalance that occurred during puberty. In other instances， a womans Adams apple may not be an Adams apple at all — it could be an unrelated growth caused by a health condition.

People also may choose to have surgery to reduce the size of the Adams apple. While the procedure is relatively safe， all surgeries come with risks， including death. An Adams apple surgery may result in visible scarring and potential changes in voice. In addition， Adams apple surgery is considered cosmetic and is unlikely to be covered by insurance.