Hello Everyone,
This group has so much educational information it’s great.
I was diagnosed last year after seeing an imaging report mention elongated styloids, finding out they can cause carotid pain and wondering if they were why I’ve had a carotid headache for so many years. I made my ENT look into it and now I’m diagnosed. He was terrible about explaining my scan though, it says where the styloids are but I don’t understand it.
Perhaps someone is good at putting things in regular terms?
The temporal bone scan report says that the right one is 3.5 cm (my painful side) and the left is 3.3. The part I don’t understand is this:
“They terminate proximal to the hyoid bones. Both cross anterior to the carotid sheaths, abutting the internal jugular veins but not deforming the internal carotid arteries.”
Translation anyone? 
Thank you!
Hi gamerchic,
I’m not a doctor, but I can take a guess as to what your report means: “terminate proximal to”: Your styloid processes are a bit elongated but don’t extend to your hyoid bone (which is where your neck & jaw meet).
“cross anterior to the carotid sheaths” - Anterior = “in front of” - the carotid sheath is fibrous connective tissue that surrounds the vascular compartment of your neck (thank you, Wikipedia). The vascular compartment of your neck would be the area where the veins & arteries are.
“abutting the internal jugular veins but not deforming the internal carotid arteries” could mean they are touching or pressing on the jugular veins & perhaps the internal carotids, but again, they aren’t compressing them (which would cause deformation of the arteries).
Based on the information you’ve given, it seems that your headaches may be coming from compression of your jugular veins rather than of your carotid arteries, however, your carotids could be compressed when your head is in a different position than it was in the scan. That is something you would need to clarify with your doctor. You could take the radiologist’s written report to your PCP & ask for a more clear explanation.
This is not intended to be a diagnosis of vascular compression or not. It’s just my guess based on my limited understanding of the terms used in your diagnosis & of the anatomy of that part of the neck. Hopefully someone w/ a better understanding of medical jargon will add to this post.
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Your breakdown makes more sense than anything I’ve tried to figure out.
The jugular and carotid parts were confusing me the most and yes, there could be an element to how things are when my head is turned, for example my ENT perked up when I said I see stars when I turn my head sometimes.
I appreciate you taking the time to take a look at this. 
Glad to help a little even though my knowledge is limited. I hope you get a more complete understanding soon!
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