@kcannady- external does give the docs a better view, yes, so they can get more of the styloid out, and has less risk of infection apparently. Depending on the doctor’s method, it doesn’t leave much of a scar either- mine was done by a skull base surgeon so he went in behind the ear, you can only see a little bit round my neck below the ear, but I have seen some quite impressive pics on here of others following surgery where it’s been done across the neck. I have to admit I just wanted the surgery done and didn’t care whatsoever about a scar!!
There’s more info about the different surgeries in ES Information- Treatment: Surgery