I’m sorry that your family aren’t supportive, and that you’ve had the previous surgeries but still have symptoms or they’ve returned, that’s really hard when you’ve got a little one to care for!
We’ve not heard of your doctor, has he done many styloidectomies? Having had previous surgery you obviously really need this one to be done right! There’s questions we suggest you ask a doctor in the Newbies Guide Section about surgery if you want to be sure that he’s the right doctor for you, here’s a link:
ES Information- Treatment: Surgery - Welcome / Newbies Guide to Eagle Syndrome - Living with Eagle
There’s also info about what to get ready before surgery, what to expect, and some links to post surgery recovery as well.
Recovery does vary quite a bit as different doctors have different techniques, and obviously if you’re having bilateral surgery there will be more swelling and so the recovery will be a bit longer. Some doctors put a neck drain in and keep you overnight- this helps with swelling, it’s something to ask about. Also some doctors will prescribe a short course of steroids, which would be helpful for bilateral surgery, so you could ask about that too. icing regularly will help with the swelling afterwards, and also sleeping propped up with a wedge pillow…
Eating is often tricky after surgery, as it can be hard to open your mouth wide, so we suggest getting smoothies ready, protein shakes, soft foods etc, usually for the first week- 10 days, but not everyone has this.
Lifting will slow down any healing, and could bring symptoms back even if they go quickly after surgery, so it’s good that you’ll have help lifting your son. gentle exercise like walking is good, but any household chores really can cause pain after surgery, so would be good to avoid these for a couple of weeks at least, the lifting for longer ideally. I couldn’t turn my head well enough to drive for a couple of weeks as well, so that’s something to bear in mind as well. You’ll likely be pretty tired after surgery too, although obviously you’re used to that…
There’s a link in the Newbies Guide about lymphatic drainage, and massaging the scar with oil is advised too, but not until the scars have completely healed.
There are a couple of nerves which can occasionally get stretched during the surgery- the facial nerve can cause facial muscle weakness, a lopsided smile for example or difficulty closing your eye, this usually resolves fairly quickly. Also the spinal accessory nerve is another one which we sometimes see causes problems after surgery, which can cause arm weakness.
Your symptoms sound like ES, & probably vagus nerve irritation, but also possibly vascular compression. Did you ever have a CT scan with contrast to look at the blood vessels? If you do have vascular compression it’s really important the the styloids are removed as close to the skull base as possible for best results, and also if there’s any scar tissue from your previous surgeries compressing them then this should be removed too…
2 Likes