After an entire lifetime of terrible headaches and after 3 years of trying to get somebody, anybody to look at my styloids, today I got an answer. I’d finally decided I was tired of begging and just booked myself in with Dr. Osborne. He sent in an order for the CT. I got that done today and the below is from the radiologists report.
“Calcification of the stylohyoid ligaments, measuring up to 4.4 cm in length on the left, compatible with Eagle syndrome in the appropriate clinical setting.”
What’s next?
After the imaging gets to Dr. Osborne, I’ll be meeting with him for a consult. Beyond that, I’m not sure. I’m just taking it one step at a time.
HOORAY!! !! I’m so glad you finally have a diagnosis, @Kmarty14! Dr. Osborne will be very helpful in interpreting your imaging beyond what the radiology report says.
Migraine level headaches can be from vascular compression being caused by the styloids or from compression/irritation of the trigeminal nerve by the styloid(s), & also sometimes by compression from soft tissues in the neck like lymph nodes, muscles, nerves, other veins/arteries, & even fascia. The internal jugular vein is most often the culprit & it can get squashed between the styloids & C1 vertebra. It doesn’t look like there’s much space between your left styloid & the transverse process (knobby ends of the C1 vertebra) of C1 so therein could lie your problem. The right styloid appears to be a good distance away from C1. Since it looks like your imaging was done w/o contrast, the veins & arteries aren’t visible in your images for me to be able to provide a more concise opinion.
From behind (3rd image) you can see that your right styloid is more sharply angled inward than the left one which is longer. That may or may not be significant as far as the symptoms it is contributing.
Thank you so much for doing the labelling. I wondered how much space between the stylohyoid and the C1 is normal. I definitely suspect some vascular funny business due to some of the features of my headaches. I’m really excited to see Dr. Osborne next week to hopefully get more answers.
I’m glad that you’ve finally got an answer for your symptoms, whilst not pleased for you to have ES, it’s good to be validated!
Dr Osborne is very experienced, so see what he thinks about potential vascular symptoms and whether its worth having a CT with contrast… Do you think you would have surgery with him given the cost and distance, or is that not an issue for you?
I know the CT had contrast per Dr. Osborne’s order. I must have just not been able to find that view on the disc. So I’m definitely eager to see what more he can tell me.
Anyway, my thought is to ask Dr. Osborne if he thinks surgery would be beneficial. And then, if surgery is in the cards, see if he can recommend someone nearer to where I live who, hopefully, would be in network with Blue Cross Blue Shield. I’m in Kansas and, in looking around the forum here, it looks like there might be some options in state or nearby.
I mostly went to Dr. Osborne because, with my headaches beginning to affect my ability to work, I need definitive information to choose between potential next treatments. And so far local doctors have just been referring me around because they don’t know about Eagle (at best) or they straight deny that Eagle is even possible (at worst).
Meanwhile, I’ve got treatment plans on hold for orthognatic surgery & orthodontics (for severe class II malocclusion and TMJ stuff), CT myleogeam for CSF leak check, headache specialty reassessment, etc, just waiting to get an Eagle answer. It has been very frustrating because, if Eagle is my main trigger, I definitely want to be able to weigh that in the balance when considering those, particularly orthognatic surgery. If it is not the actual cause of things, though, I need to know that too so I can try these other things. So the fact that I have had to beg for even a referral locally has been driving me berserk. Which is also why I just got fed up and decided to jump straight to Dr. Osborne.
It feels like, if I followed the proper referrals path around here, I’d be wasting years of my life talking to people who think I’m crazy and all I’d get for it is older and poorer.
Sadly quite a few members have ended up poorer and older still with symptoms, so it was a good idea to get your diagnosis through Dr O… See what he says about vascular issues then, as this could affect who you see for surgery, not all the doctors on our list are experienced with this. (Dr Hepworth would be the closest VES doctor to you but he does have a long waiting list…) Some members have been able to have surgery with Dr Osborne paid for through their insurance if there’s nobody experienced in their area, but this might be too much of a fight for you to want to take on! Here’s a link to a discussion that @vcp02 posted with info : Dr Osborne- Blue Cross Blue Shield Out of Network Waiver-2025 - Welcome / New User Help - Living with Eagle
Some members have found that their bite alters after ES surgery, so maybe you won’t need any surgery for that if you opt for ES surgery first!
Look forward to hearing what Dr Osborne has to say…
I am so glad you are getting answers!!! I also have the main symptoms of vestibular migrane and headache, but found Dr O in March and found I have ES. Please keep me updated on what he says/your journey. I hope you find relief soon!
