adam's apple 喉结
The Adam's apple is usually more prominent in adult men than in women or prepubescent girls or boys.Note that the growth of the larynx itself during puberty is responsible for the vocal instability in teenage boys,not the Adam's Apple.The Adam's Apple is merely the protrusion one sees of the thyroid cartilage making up the body of the larynx.Some suggest that the reason for the Adam's apple usually being more prominent in males is that the two laminae of the thyroid cartilage that form the protrusion meet at an angle of 90° in males but that angle is usually 120° in females.However,this doesn't explain why in some women with large Adam's Apples,they appear no different than what one would see on a man.
A prominent Adam's apple is commonly considered a male secondary sex characteristic though this is more of a perception than anything pointing to scientific fact since not all males have Adam's Apples and there are quite a few women who do.
For some women and a few men,the Adam's apple is more prominent than desired,and this is sometimes remedied by a chondrolaryngoplasty (thyroid chondroplasty),a type of plastic surgery to reduce the size of the Adam's apple.This surgery is not without risk as it can adversely affect the voice and cause permanent damage as well as leaving a visible scar.