Hi ES community. I want to provide a 3 month update as I found long term updates very helpful when deciding on surgery. I am 3 months post op R side only styloid and ligament removal with Hackman at UNC. My styloid was 6cm long and part of the ligament was calcified.
My primary symptoms were tongue pain and laziness, throat and tonsil pain, feeling something stuck in throat, teeth pain and sinus issues potentially related.
I cannot say for certain at this point that every symptom is gone forever BUT…I am happy to report that around 2 months post op, my symptoms were coming and going less frequently and at 3 months post, are usually non existent or very quiet. I am very happy to have not had any tonsil pain, swallowing or tongue issues for 3 weeks at this point. Things are looking up. I wish I could say this surgery had a great impact on my sinus issues but so far I don’t think it has. I will continue to update but needless to say I am very happy. DO NOT give up if your symptoms don’t go away right after surgery. I found it very challenging to be patient. I have had three sinus surgeries which have brought only partial relief so I was primed to be anxious but I believe I am around the corner from most of my ES symptoms being completely gone.
I will add a photo of my scars ( Hackman does ear and neck incision) for reference as well. Keep in mind I am almost 100% irish and as such am very pale with pink undertones so my scars are usually pretty red for quite some time even though I don’t expose them to sun. I am happy with how they are healing irl.
Thank you for your update, like you say, the longer term updates are really helpful…so pleased that most of your symptoms have improved and that you feel the surgery was successful! Dr Hackman has done a good job with the incision, it was a very long styloid to remove!
I hope that you can find some answers to your sinus issues…
HOORAY for being patient & then being rewarded for it! I’m so glad you’ve gotten good results from your surgery. Some of the symptoms that have gone may sneak back occasionally but will finally go for good as more time passes. I continued to notice improvement in the 9-12 mos post op time frame. I think your incisions look great for being only 3 mos old. Can’t even see the one by your ear! I expect the pink will fade with time. Mine are nearly invisible now after looking pretty awful early on. Thank you so much for coming back to give an update, @Ashnwest.
Thank you so much for the update and yes, these longer term updates really are so helpful! I’m scheduled for surgery in the spring so will continue to soak up experienced in the meantime. And your scars look fantastic!!!
That is great news! Regarding your tongue and throat pain, was it constant or irritated by food or could u elaborate? Did the doc say after surgery if there was a specific problem causing it? My sons tongue and throat are hightly irritated by certain foods but always has constant pain
Hi Kerri. My tongue and throat pain was not constant. It would come and go. It wasn’t irritated by certain foods but did seem irritated by the act of eating. Meaning some days I would feel fine and after eating would feel like food was stuck in my throat or have throat pain.
Dr Hackman couldn’t see pre or post op that my styloid was definitely compressing any structure ex: hypoglossal nerve causing tongue pain. He isn’t big into to saying yes or no before surgery when talking about compression because one scan could show compression one day and the next day, not. As for the surgery he said he didn’t really have enough visibility during surgery to tell me if there was compression but my styloid was huge so I just assumed this much.
Thanks so much for the update, its really useful to see the realities of recovery after surgery. Not an instant fix by the sounds of it, and requires some patience. My surgery is in about a weeks time, so this is very helpful.
