At a guess the distal aspect of the stylo-hyoid ligament showing calcification could be explained by a calcification on the hyoid end (distal meaning away from the point of insertion), so maybe the stylo-hyoid ligaments were cut & removed the styloid end leaving a bit still attached to the hyoid? So that could explain clicking, but I don’t understand the CT showing elongated styloids…unless the radiologist looked at old CTs & not a new one?! Will be interesting to see what Dr Hackman says 
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I got a second opinion come through in my chart still haven’t got to talk to the surgeon (Dr. Hackman) about the post surgery ct scan. The second opinion that came through said styloids are short. Left side that has pain has 10mm (1cm) of calcified ligament left at hyoid bone/ right side only 3mm. Is 1cm (size of pea or width of pencil earaser) big enough to cause pain and need another surgery to remove? Or could the pain 5 months out be from the nerves in that area still healing?
@KCarey -
It’s unlikely though not impossible that 1 cm of calcification could be causing your present pain. It’s my opinion that waiting for more time to pass so your nerves can recover further would be the wisest decision (more on this below).
Is your jaw mobility increasing i.e. can you open your mouth wider now?
Pain could still be nerves healing. I had some nerve pain that didn’t go away completely for close to a year. Some of our members have had nerve pain that never fully resolved (@Jules for one) & found that being on a low dose of nerve pain medication was helpful in keeping the nerve pain from being so uncomfortable. Some of our members have also found taking a nerve pain medication for a few months actually helped w/ nerve healing & were able to go off the medication after a while. That may be something for you to consider. You can also try heat at this point to see if that gives any relief.
Hopefully others will weigh in w/ their opinions.
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At least that fits in a bit more with what Dr Hackman has done during surgery, and sometimes with calcified ligaments it’s hard to tell what’s the normal process and what’s an extra bit of calcified ligament, so it could be why a small part has been left…It’s difficult to say if this is enough to cause symptoms I think; we have had members with very small calcifications who have had pain from those, but it’s a big surgery to have to go through again…As @Isaiah_40_31 says, it might be worth trying nerve pain medication & seeing if that helps. My nerve pain did improve after surgery but hasn’t gone completely so I still take 20mg of Amitriptyline.
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My mouth may not be as big as it was before but I feel it has improved a little since I wrote about that. Before I wasn’t able to move my lower jaw side to side. Now I can do that helps with chewing normally also. It’s definitely not something I’ve been focusing on so I think it’s slowing showing improvement:)
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That’s good to hear 
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Got to talk with Dr. Hackman about the ct results. The styloids are at a normal post op length. He said if they were cut shorter you’d risk nerve damage. The left side has a tiny bit of calcification left on the lesser horn of the hyoid. It’s so little 7-10mm and he said he wouldn’t normally think that would cause a problem but since I do feel a pain there he said he could do a outpatient surgery to remove it if it doesn’t get better. He said there’s a chance that once everything heals around it the pain could get better. Recap, that was always the most painful area even before surgery (maybe the irritation can heal). I’m so happy to know that if it doesn’t resolve the surgery sounds very simple to him (30 minutes) with no risk to the facial nerves like before and recovery much simpler than the syloidrectomy. The clicking when speaking has gotten better, also the stiff feeling in back of my throat has gotten better! That’s huge bc that feeling was very hard to deal with. He also prescribed me a muscle relaxer to see if that helps in the mean time while healing. I feel like the muscles are healing so slow, still achy and numb for sure. (Currently 5.5 months post op). Thankful to have a doctor like Dr. Hackman helping me!
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I’m so glad for you that he listened to your concerns and is willing to work with you to resolve this! And good that you are still seeing improvements, albeit very slowly! We have had members come back on the site a year or more after surgery to say things have finally improved, so it can happen…sending you a hug & hope the muscle relaxants help
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