[quote=“crochetgirl, post:1, topic:19257, full:true”]
Hi everyone,
I have been looking through lots of posts from others but though it was time to post myself, maybe to at least help me mentally. I have been symptomatic for about a year but the last 6 months have been the most excruciating which has caused me to lose my job, be unable to drive and have basically no quality of life. I have had CT scans, mri, x rays which all show a disc herniation at level 5/6, with no pressure on nerves. My symptoms began with a clicking sound behind my ear while weight lifting which resulted in shoulder/ scapular pain. 6 months ago i began to get a clicking sound behind my ear upon turning my head to the left with a loss of sensation in my front neck muscle and back muscles. Then i started to get stabbing pain across my face and tight painful front of neck muscles, with pain under my chin just below my ear. My neck often appears red in this area too. The symptoms have been ongoing and debilitating. I pushed to keep seeing specialists and eventually saw a neurologist who advised my scans were fine. After i kept pushing he said maybe we could investigate eagle syndrome, though he said he had never had anyone with it. He phoned back the radiologist to recheck my scan and advised both styloids were 3.7cm in length. Im awaiting local QLD ENT appointment to investigate further, but this is taking so long and my mental health is sharply declining. And my quality of life is minimal. I have sent all my documentation to Michael Elliot in sydney ENT, and awaiting consultation there too. Does this sound like eagles? I am at a loss as to how to get my life back if dr all say nothing going on. Cheers for listening.
I’m so sorry that your symptoms have been severe for months, I guess the Australian healthcare system is as slow as the UK is, but it’s no fun when you’re in that much pain…
It sounds as if you could have nerve pain- stabbing pains are common with that. If you’ve not tried any, there are nerve pain medications which can help, like Amitriptyline, Gabapentine or Carbamazepine. The Facial nerve and Trigeminal nerve can both be affected by ES & pain is common in the areas you mention, as well as numbness or tingling with certain head movements. Muscle relaxants sometimes help with pain too; the SCM & Omohyoid muscles are often aggravated with ES , and some members have used topical lidocaine or patches on painful muscles. Heat and/ or ice can help as well.
There’s info in the Newbies Guide Section about symptoms & treatments, here’s some links:
ES Information: Common Symptoms And Possible Explanations For Them - Welcome / Newbies Guide to Eagle Syndrome - Living with Eagle
ES Information- Treatment: Pain Relief - Welcome / Newbies Guide to Eagle Syndrome - Living with Eagle
Obviously we can’t say for sure if it is the styloids causing your pain, but if your styloids are elongated & you have typical symptoms then it’s possible. The definition of ES is elongated styloid process and/ or calcified stylo-hyoid ligaments and typical ES symptoms…Unfortunately often the only way is to have surgery and see…
I hope that you hear back from Prof Elliot soon 