Many of our members would agree with you, @musclecarguy. He may have done more ES surgeries for our members over the years than any other doctor on our Doctors List.
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I’m still trying to hear from people about what their throat sensation feels like. It def gets worse with anxiety but still there until I’m just about asleep. No pain on swallowing. Does this still sound like the calcification is causing this?
ES can cause all kinds of different feelings in a person’s throat, @musclecarguy. For some it’s pain for others it’s just irritation like you’re experiencing. I’m not sure we have had any members who’ve had exactly what you’re describing for yourself. That’s not unusual though as there are unique symptoms for ES which one person has but no one else has mentioned them. The proof is that those symptoms have gone away once the styloid(s) was/were removed.
I had one such symptom. Periodically the roof of my mouth would feel like I’d just had a drink of boiling water, & the skin was scalded (that feeling you get when you drink something that’s too hot). It would also affect my gums. The feeling was always on the right side of the roof of my mouth & would last for a couple of hours then go away. It was very uncomfortable & annoying. It stopped soon after my right styloid was removed.
Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s anyone on our forum who can give you a compelling argument for having surgery for the discomfort you have in your throat. You just need to weigh the evidence you have from your CT scan, & the information Dr. Cognetti gave you, & either choose to try surgery for relief or not have surgery & live w/ the symptoms you have. Most of us who’ve had surgery decided to “take the plunge” as continuing to live with the symptoms we had seemed like a worse choice than having surgery.
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@musclecarguy While quickly reviewing this thread, I would like to know whether your throat pain is/was focused in the cricothyroid area and whether it feels similar to the inflammation one experiences after running very fast, a burning- inflamed sensation? That’s one of my symptoms. Hope all is going better 
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Sammi, you’re a singer with ES. I have a question: I was a teacher and would love to sing with my students. The last couple of years I noticed that when I would sing, especially fast songs, my throat and esophagus would spasm and I had to stop. The kids would look at me to see if I was ok. I have VES and am wondering now if some of that was causing the spasms or if it was something different. I have since retired and don’t sing much anymore. Just wondering
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Hi, I didn’t have any spasming when singing. My issue was that my hyoid bone was making contact with the styloid which caused facial numbness and pain in my neck. That being said, post surgery I am able to sing without pain and have actually noticed more ease in parts of my range than I had previously. That being said, the anatomy of the head and neck is very complex with many structures quite close together, so I would definitely say it’s possible that your vocal symptoms were related to your ES. I have read from several sources that vocal symptoms related to ES seem to be pretty common in people whose professions require heavy voice use (like education).
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Thanks for getting back to me 
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@musclecarguy I was reviewing your thread and noticed that you had a similar problem (calcified segments). I too have these segment and, in my case, a definitive pain (nerve), specifically the throat burning and referred ear ringing, some burning, and stuffiness. Mine is triggered by head movement, too.
How was your surgery?
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