Hi everyone. Has anyone found that their Stylohyoid Process bone is actually BROKEN, with part of it sticking into the tissue in their throat? I just used Slicer to create the 3D images of my CT, and discovered that myself. It appears that the side where I have had the most pain and chronic voice pain/voice problems is literally broken. It finally explains…everything. I’m a professional singer and I knew something was wrong with my voice beyond what anyone had seen or diagnosed up until now. Insane.
Has anyone else had this and successfully gotten it removed and recovered?? I am terrified about if there will be a positive outcome and recovery. I just contacted Dr Samji’s office.
There have been several members who have fractured styloids & have had successful ES surgeries. Styloid fractures have been known to be caused by sneezing, coughing & laughing. It doesn’t take a traumatic injury to break one.
I have to say, that in my non-medical opinion, yours looks less like it’s fractured & more like there calcification on your stylohyoid ligament just below your styloid process. I can’t tell for sure, but it also looks like you may have a little ligament calcification at the hyoid bone end of things. I had “spotty” calcification on my stylohyoid ligaments not a nice straight shot of calcification. Any calcification on the ligament impedes its ability to move freely & thus can affect the movement of the hyoid bone & other connective tissues/muscles in the area as well as cause nerve irritation.
Oh interesting…thank you for pointing that out. I see what you mean that it could be a calcified ligament. Where do you see possible calcification on hyoid? The bone sticking through in the hyoid area looks suspicious? Thanks for your two sense here I have to wait a week or so to talk to Dr Samji so in the meantime I’m self diagnosing with this insane 3D program lol!
The hard thing about using a 3D image (even a top quality one) is there can be “artifacts” in the image that are nothing but look like something significant. That’s why I can’t guarantee what I’m seeing is ligament calcification. I’ll PM you my 3D image w/ ligament calcification circled so you can see what mine looked liked. I’ll also annotate your image & send it back to you in the PM.
WOW! Your right side is calcified from skull base to hyoid bone! It’s thick too! No wonder you’re having the symptoms you are. On the left it looks like you have elongation of the styloid & then your sylohyoid ligament has calcified from the hyoid bone end going up toward your styloid process.
Have you found anyone to do your surgery yet? If so, do you have a date? Getting all that extra calcification out of your neck ASAP will completely transform your quality of life. Please make sure whoever you find to do your surgery will remove the styloid/s-h ligament from skull base to hyoid bone on both sides. In the US many doctors require two surgeries. Not sure what the case will be for you since you’re in another country.
Hi All,
Just an FYI: Dr. Samji indicated to me that even thought the CT scan shows segmented calcifications, it often is continous due to limitation of the scan itself. It takes slices and software guestimates whats in between the slices. Chances are, you wont know for sure until doc opens you up.
Hi! I was diagnosed with Eagle Syndrome on both sides. I had the left side removed successfully and began to have problems with the right side. I went to 2 different doctors and had 2 more scans any it appears that the bone on the right side has disappeared. I have my original ct scan showing both the left and right sides to compare with my current images. The current theory is that the bone broke off and is somewhere in my body…I think anything is possible with these small bones and it is possible my bone is embedded someplace else in my body.
That’s very interesting, thank you. Yeah, I think what I thought was broken on first glance just looks segmented on the CT, or is calcified ligament… but I think your point about the images not showing 100% accuracy and not really knowing until the surgery makes sense. Thank you!!
That’s really interesting, Ann. I would suspect it would still be somewhere in your neck as the muscles & fascia in that area would hold it there, but anything is possible!
Hi jessicarae87, i read you had a comunication with Dr samji, did you have a surgery?? Can you tell me your experience with this doctor? I am thibking about a surgery with him. Thank you so much
Hi! Yes, I had surgery back in September with Dr Samji. He is a wonderful doctor, however the surgery didn’t relieve my symptoms. I specifically had voice pain and it has not resolved. That is unfortunate, but he did say his surgeries are 85%-90% successful, but the only way to really know if the styloid is what is affecting you is to see if the surgery works. While that so far doesn’t seem to be the case for me sadly, I couldn’t speak more highly of Dr Samji and my experience in general. He is very compassionate and an amazing surgeon. However he just doesn’t have “all” the answers - he can not really explain why I still have pain, but I think I am an unusual case. He said my surgery was really tough so I hate to think what a less experienced surgeon might have messed up!! The recovery was hard but not as bad as I feared. I am still recovering some numbness/weird nerve sensations in the area, and I still do have a bit of First Bite syndrome, but not too bothersome. That was REALLY painful at first but has gotten better with time. But I would say if you are intent on having this surgery, definnitely go with Dr Samji He seems to be the most expereinced and he is just a wonderful doctor in general. Hope this helps!
So sorry that the surgery doesn’t seem to have helped you…it’s really tough, but we have had some members who’ve had improvements even a year after surgery , so things may still change.
Will be praying for you, God Bless
Since you had bilateral ES, it is possible that you’ll need to have the remaining styloid removed to get the full benefit of ES surgery. As Dr. Samji & Jules noted, we can never predict for sure what the surgical outcome will be, but I know in my case, having only one removed was not enough. It was after the second styloid was removed that I truly noticed big, positive changes in my symptoms. Some did take a year to fade. My First Bite Syndrome is still continuing to disappear even 6.5 years after ES surgery. I say that to give you hope that your nerves are still healing & as Jules said, you may yet have improvement.
Hi jessicarae87!!
I am so sad you did not find relief in the surgery. My symptomps are like yours, with pain while speaking but my vocal cords are okay, constant pain in the throat which is more when yawning and also doing exercise and pain in the ear. they just found the ligament calcified, and the pictures seem like yours, in segments.
Can you tell me if you are worse that before the surgery os just the same?? I have also Bren told that the improvements can take long! So try to be positive, because maybe you need a little bit more time than others!!
When Samji did the surgery, did he Discover the ligament is totally calcified (and they couldnt see that in the pictures??) Or is It calcified un segments as It seemed before?
I have to wait a week or so to talk to Dr Samji so in the meantime I’m self diagnosing with this insane 3D program lol!
