There is a good chance your renewed/current symptoms are related to the styloid/ligament that is still there. Your jaw is now “liberated” on one side, but the other is still “locked down” so the free side is having to compensate for that. Trigeminal & glossopharyngeal nerves can get very irritated when a jaw joint isn’t working right thus the facial pain you’re experiencing. I speak from experience on that.
July 29th will be here soon! Take it easy, listen to your body, & rest when it says to, & you should continue to notice improvement from the first surgery as the days pass.
Thank you all for your encouragement and helping me find some comfort through my discomfort! I hope I’m not coming off as complainer! If so, I’m sorry. I will try to be more optimistic and remind myself that I need to be more patient! I’m really looking forward to my next surgery even though I’m in midst of a rough recovery! @Isaiah, I think your on to something about my remaining styloid being locked down while the other side is free/untethered! I sure hope that’s the case! Thanks for all the prayers and support!
@Sewmomma, sounds good! It was so disappointing to feel the old symptoms come back with a vengeance!! Moments like this is alI to familiar, deflating, and sets me back! It reminds me when I recently got my wisdom teeth extracted and when the swelling went down I felt so much worse and had even more symptoms! My poor body has been through so much and it just wants a break! If and when that happens I’m gonna throw the biggest party ever or hop on a plane for an extended family vacation in Hawaii!!
See yourself there at that finish line! All of this is temporary! Hawaii sounds like a plan! My go-to image is purchasing a bike and riding around my neighborhood.
I’m feeling so defeated by the pain right now! It’s been going on 24/7 for many days!
So, I’m officially 1 mth post-op and while my intense head pressure was successfully treated by the surgery it has done nothing to relieve my ear and jaw pain problems! It almost feels worse now than before the surgery. It feels as if my jaw and TMJ are misaligned on the surgery side and it pops and shifts back into place all day long. It also feels that my TMJ joint has been pushed higher and the bone protrudes out further than the other side. I believe this is causing a lot of my ear pain/popping/pressure problems. If it’s possible that my left TMJ joint could have been shifted higher, I sure hope the second surgery on my right will correct this!! Apart of me wants to run to a dentist tomorrow and see what they think but apart of me says it will be a waste of time and money! I guess I’ll just have to deal with this misery and wait it out till the second surgery but 2mths of this pain is going to kill me
Perhaps, frequent very gentle massages would help? My neck muscles are pretty tight and I have a lot of numbness still!
My incision looks pretty good but there’s a hard lump underneath. It doesn’t seem to be going down so I hope this isn’t built up permanent scar tissue!
Ok, I’m done ranting. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest! Time to put my analytical brain to rest! Goodnight
Sorry that you’re in so much pain still, Christy… I guess you just have to keep plodding on, until you can have the other side done. Hopefully things will be realigned after that & less painful. It’s good that the head pressure is easier!
Keep strong, & feel free to vent on here any time you need to…a big hug for yiu & will keep praying for you
My heart goes out to you! I’ve been there. The symptoms from my remaining styloid got worse & worse as the post op days wore on after my first surgery. Hopefully you’ll find that there are better days ahead. Usually the symptoms come intensely for a few days then let up some so there’s respite. I’ll be praying that your respite days are on the way.
I truly believe you’ll see a HUGE difference after your second surgery. Your calcified s-h ligament still has half your jaw tethered, so it can’t move normally. That is putting a lot of stress on the side that has been released as it’s trying to behave normally but can’t so it’s compensating which creates pain. TMJ issues then refer to the ear & voila there’s more pain added to an already uncomfy situation.
Keep yourself as busy as possible, to the extent your body allows, & the next 2 months should seem to pass fairly quickly. You’re half way to the finish line!!
Isaiah_40_31 - I don’t think I can read enough times how the stress of one side being removed and one tethered can cause discomfort (to say the least). I encourage you to keep reiterating it - please:)
@Jules & Isaiah, thanks for always being that sympathetic listening ear and responding to all of our cares and troubles!! Your God sent angels and will be rewarded here on Earth and in the Kingdom of Heaven!!! I truly believe that!!! I pray one day I’ll be able to look back at this time and see how far I’ve come in healing and how I’ve grown as a person! I want to utilize everything I gained & learned to help others in their time of need!! So, your truly an inspiration!!!
ES is definitely not a easy medical condition to deal with! It challenges a person in every single way so, I can look at this as a blessing because once I feel better I’ll fully appreciate life on a much HIGHER level and live life to it’s fullest!!! This too shall pass! I will overcome this!
Thanks for your support & encouragement ((((HUGS)))
Hello Beane,
Wondering how your husbands surgery went? I had mine the Friday before his I believe. We had to be with my sister in law after my surgery (her cancer returned and has since passed), so I am just getting back to work this week. I hope that your husband is doing well! I am having some speech issues and can’t eat well, but I notice many have posted about those kind of issues after surgery, so hopefully they will improve with time.
My best,
Patty
I assuming your speech & eating issues are due to a gimpy tongue. I’ll privately email you a couple of videos showing exercises you can do to help strengthen & straighten out your tongue. The sooner you start on those the better. I had the same problem after my first surgery, & it took 6-9 months to mostly resolve. I didn’t know about the tongue exercises until about 4 yrs post op. Wish I’d known sooner as I’d likely be 100% now (but am thankful to be at 90-95%).
In case she doesn’t answer, Beane’s husband ended up only having a tonsillectomy as his tonsil ruptured due to infection when the surgeon went in to do the styloidectomy. Because of the tonsil infection, the styloidectomy was postponed. We haven’t heard anything from Beane in awhile. I think there was hope that the tonsil was the problem & not the styloids.
It wasn’t clear to me from what you wrote whether your sister-in-law passed away or if her cancer came back & then went back into remission. If she has passed away, I am vey sorry for your loss. So tough to have just been through surgery yourself & then need to help w/ end of life care for a loved one. I hope you continue to heal physically & emotionally (if need be).
Well, I somehow made it to my surgery day as that was one of the longest 3mths of my life. I had my second side done (right side) on Monday. So, I’m 4 days post-op. I’m dealing with a lot of swelling that decreases slightly by the day. It’s hard to tell if my old symptoms are any better right now. My most problematic symptoms are ear fullness/pain/popping, face pain, TMJ joint popping on my left. It’s very defeating to still have this after the second surgery! I’m trying to stay positive and remind myself I’m still in the very early stages of healing and this may not be a quick fix. After all, I’ve been dealing with these chronic symptoms for 4 years. I just hope I didn’t reach it to late and now there’s permanent damage. I’m praying for a miracle
Btw, here’s a pic of my second styloid. Dr.Samji said it was very thick like a pencil.
I suppose an object this big stuck in your neck would cause a problem! Just waiting to see what comes of it and/or which symptoms will be resolved
Yes, will keep praying for you…if you can read emma’s recent post- she explained her journey & the ups & downs really well- sorry I can’t post the link at the moment.
Try to be patient- we read of some members who come round & feel instantly better, but for most it takes time. Like you say, they’ve been messing with your nerves for years, so it will take a while for those nerves to heal, maybe up to a year…
That’s an impressive styloid Dr Samji removed!
Hugs & prayers to you
It’s been going on 24/7 for many days!
Time to put my analytical brain to rest! Goodnight 
I truly believe that!!! I pray one day I’ll be able to look back at this time and see how far I’ve come in healing and how I’ve grown as a person! I want to utilize everything I gained & learned to help others in their time of need!! So, your truly an inspiration!!!
((((HUGS))) 
