I had a quarter of an inch shaved off my left transverse process and some remaining styloid removed by Dr Hepworth on Wednesday. I know I’m still in the swelling phase and am hoping to see some improvements eventually…but wondered if people only get one side of c1 shaved or normally need both? I also wonder about any remaining right styloid. I had bilateral styloidectomy with Hackman last December.
I was hoping to wake up with some bread crumbs of improvement. So if you have personal experience with not having relief right away but it coming later…I’ll take that This was my 7th surgery in two and a half years and they all say I’ll see improvement in time and I never have
So sorry that you’ve had to have so many surgeries, that’s so tough…Obviously there will still be swelling as you know, so it might need for that to go down before you see how much the surgery has helped you. You’re in good hands with Dr Hepworth, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have agreed to do the surgery if he didn’t think it would help- did you have any pre or post-op feedback from him?
Keep icing, and hopefully soon you’ll see improvements. I did have a noticeable reduction of the vascular symptoms straight away, but from what I’ve read on here, it seems that I was really lucky, and it’s not the common experience.
I’ll pray that the surgery does help you, & sending you a hug
Hi @JSwing I was wondering if dr Hepworth did the c1 shave or did he have a Nero surgeon he worked with do that aspect and he do styloid side?
He did my styloidectomy last year in Colorado and I am looking at doing the c1 shave on the same side next
I was not aware that he was doing the c1 shave
I do hope that you see some improvements soon
Wishing you a pain free day
Whether a person needs both sides of C1 shaved has to do w/ whether it’s compressing the IJV on each side. If C1 was only pressing into your right IJV, there’s no reason for Dr. Hepworth to go in & shave the left side.
Do you have bilateral IJV compression? I do, but C1 is only a problem on the left side. The right appears to be compressed by soft tissue as my C1 is shifted to the left as the result of a cycling accident 9 years ago. Hopefully you won’t need the other side done at all. It may take a month to 6 weeks for your swelling to reduce enough that you begin to feel the benefits of your recent decompression surgery, but I will pray it’s sooner than that. I’m sorry that other surgeries you’ve had haven’t helped you.
I believe Dr. Hepworth is doing all his own C1 shaving. Mine didn’t need to be shaved, but I expected it would because my C1 is shifted to the left. Instead Dr Hepworth moved my IJV away from C1 enough to give it the space it needed to open fully. That has been his practice for a long time. I suspect shaving C1 is an option when there isn’t room to move the IJV.
This was my 7th surgery in two and a half years and they all say I’ll see improvement in time and I never have 
