1 week after surgery (pictures)

Scar after 1 week

I also have a couple questions.
My symptoms are better however my shoulder pain which has been prevalent for 5 years is much worse after surgery, as well as rib pain.
The two boxes show where my shoulder pain is, the box closer to my neck is if you feel it, kind of at the edge of where the bone stops and then after it’s just soft area. That hurts really bad as well as cracks. And then the rib area as well. Thoughts as to why/ what I should maybe do now that my shoulder is going nuts with pain? That too box is the most pain but the bottom box the ribs shift and hurt too. And that scar you see is from a shoulder surgery where they tied my scapula to my ribs to try and get my shoulders back but that didn’t help the pain when I had it done.
Why would removing the styloid make my shoulder symptoms super bad again? Was the styloid protecting my shoulder/scapula/rib?

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The accessory nerve is close to the styloid process, so it’s possible to have irritated it with surgery, it can be affected. This might perhaps cause pain in the trapezius muscle?
It could be otherwise that being moved during surgery & the stress of it has caused inflammation of old injuries / surgeries?
Others might have ideas perhaps…hopefully things will settle down soon.
The scar’s looking really good though!

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Possibly the inflammation ):
Because my knees and hips are starting to kill me as well… I hate Lyme disease and babesiosis and bartonella and EDS and…. you name it I probably have it🤣

I had similar pain after my surgery and was told the spinal accessory nerve was right next to a nerve that was severed during the surgery. It’s four months post surgery and I still have pain in the neck, shoulder and arm if I do too much or look one direction for a long time. It has gotten better, but it was really bad at first - kept me from lifting my arm or driving much for about 6 weeks. What helped me the most was ice and hemp cream (I got it on Amazon) and Advil. I also saw an osteopath doctor familiar with gentle manipulation/massage (don’t see a chiropractor) of the area to take the pressure off the nerve. That type of doctor or someone skilled at cranial sacral therapy might be able to help a bit too. I tried physical therapy about 2-3 months after my surgery and it made it much worse. I hope you feel better soon.

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Also, this was an issue before surgery but my left eye can get much smaller when I smile and also just standing. Curious if that will resolve because of surgery. Here my eye difference is now.

How about the platysma muscle contraction?
I.e.

Is it symmetrical?

Can you explain to me exactly what you mean? I tried to replicate these two photos, is this helpful? Not sure what you mean. @vdm


Awesome, no nerve injury!

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@hyperichard - Agreed - your incision looks AMAZING!! And, I’d blame the accessory nerve for what’s going on w/ your shoulder & believe it’s likely referring pain to your rib. @Chrisc & @Jules both had good info for you about that.

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Your scar looks so good - really awesome!

The shoulder pain you are describing sounds familiar to me. I’m having that on same areas on the operated (left) side. Below the arm is more worse than on top of shoulder. My osteopath says it is the serrator muscles and the levator scapula muscle. On the other side, where still some styloid rest is in, the levator scapula tension (upper rectangle) is much more.

After surgery I noticed some changes in tension patterns in my body. Maybe this changed tension patterns brings a different load to the muscles. Until they get used to it that might be painful due to overload and even calcium krystalls inside. Your scar on the shoulder could cause some additional tension or - in sense of Neural Therapy - represent an interference field.

Having a good osteopath for supporting the restoration of tension patterns is very helpful and helps me a lot. Also back-stroke swimming helps me to keep my body moving and with this painful areas.

Wishing you good luck and success with your recovery furtheron.

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Hi! After my first surgery 11 years ago I was left with severely tight muscles in my shoulder and traps. I saw a myokenestics therapist who is some one who releases tight muscles. I learned through my 5 year Eagles journey some muscles tightened while other shortened. I would have flare ups when my inflammation was higher like after surgery. It took time to get everything moving smoothly and to readjust my posture. I had my second surgery 5 months ago and began on working on the tight muscles prior and after surgery. Diet, massaging tool, heat and exercise have helped. It will take time to lower inflammation and to get the nerves to settle down.

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Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Ann. How great that you were able to go so long between surgeries, though I’m sorry you ended up needing the second one at all.

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I am learning, that decreasing inflammation is so important. With lyme disease and two other parasitic infections, it is my theory that inflammation is what has caused my horrible joint pain and eagle syndrome. Also after this surgery, my inflammation must of spiked right away because my hips and knees had the most pain they have ever had. My new goal is to attack Lyme and inflamation by medicine, diet, massage/PT, and exercise so that I can hopefully be a normal human being. I was reviewing my medical files today with my mom, and while in college for the past three years, I have seen 27 doctors and had 3 surgeries, as well as had stem cell and prolo therapy! It has been a wild journey but I am starting to see the light. I appreciate you sharing your story and I hope you finally have received the relief that you so much deserve after all these years.

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My second surgery was delayed because I was told my styliod broke off but was really there for 8 years causing issues. I went for a second opinion and was told there was nothing there ….now that we have 3D I recommend to everyone to turn your ct on your own into a 3 D to confirm the diagnosis. You can use a free 3D prigram, mine was made by my private radiologist.

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Im with you Dude. I think our posture adapts to all the pain of Eagles and whatever we all got going on. IN my case, EDS, cervical instability and TMJ. These same muscle groups are extremely problematic for me too. Personally, I think restoration postural PT/OT therapy, deep tissue massage, acupuncture, dry needling, osteopaths/cranial /sacral work along with guided strengthening can get into some sort of better patterns. Adhesions and scar tissue work can sometimes be painful but it helps. If you have EDS, I have had osteopaths indicate that Pilates (Machine only) is a good way to address core muscle strength. Additionally, I have the same eye lid issue. In my case its called “lazy eye”. Often can’t see it unless in pictures and I am tired. Mine runs in our family and I think genetic and related to the EDS/connective tissue disorder.
Agreed you scar looks absolutely incredible!!!

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you said you have EDS right? So the joint pain is more likely to be related to that genetic condition

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Lyme disease, as well as babesiosis, and Bartonella also cause arthritic-type symptoms and inflammation causes the joints to be painful. It’s difficult to know what is what with me. I have never gotten the official diagnosis via blood tests for EDS, but a doctor who did my shoulder surgery tying my scapula to my ribs diagnosed me with it based off the way my joints are super lax. Mutiple doctors I have seen all contradict each other so i honestly have no clue since everyone has different opinions on my “predicament”.

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So frustrating for you! @Snapple2020 is an authority on EDS. You might want to have a private conversation w/ her as what she knows could be very helpful.

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EDS or Ehlers Danlos Syndrome have different types ie: for example there is vascular EDS or those who develop Chiari Syndrome. That is the worst one and usually presents with heart issues. Its goes by number. EDS I, EDS II, EDS III which is hypermobility, up to about EDS 5 or 6. There is NO blood test that is why it is hard to get a definitive diagnosis on hypermobile type unless with a skilled doctor who knows EDS. There is a thing called the Breighton Scoring system which I think is 1-10. It a way to measure specific points in your body and/or ability to overextend your joints and score the severity. Based on the score, and symptoms they diagnosis if you have it or not. That is a simplified version.

Hypermobility form is more of a basket for all the unknowns and severity varies widely patient to patient. It is not so easy to find a doctor that really knows EDS or how to officially diagnosis it, just like Eagles. Geneticist, good orthopedic, and/or rheumatologist might be a place to look for “official” diagnosis. The Ehlers Danlos website has a doctor finder if you want to look more into it. I can also recommend two books.

My official diagnosis came from a geneticist however orthopedic surgeons told me decades before I was hypermobile when I was dealing with cervical instability and getting proliferon injections. I was also told thru the years, I had fibromyalgia. It was likely EDS all along. It is a connective tissue disorder and “usually” genetic.
People with EDS often get micro-tears from over-extending their ligaments. Easily scar and can lay down scar tissue and get adhesions that cause nerve compressions - this can be painful. I had several surgeries for nerve decompression including for TOS. I had full tears of my rotator cuff and ankle. Ive had full pelvic reconstruction for prolapse. Haven’t gotten to the hiatal hernia yet. Then there is the Eagles. Now that I am “older” I also have premature osteoarthritis in hands and elbows…also in my jaw. Im a mess. LOL. I was pretty hard on my body when I was younger. If I knew I had EDS and what it might mean later in life, I might have done some things differently.
It would be good to find out while you are young so you can take some preventative steps and helpful things to have it not worsen later in life. feel free to contact me anytime privately and I can point you in the right direction…at least as EDS is concerned.

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Scar after two weeks! Pretty crazy how fast it healed.

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