Hi @Emma123,
We love long rambly posts as that’s how we get to know each other. Please feel free to ramble any time!
The answer to your question is YES! It’s very common for people w/ bilateral ES to notice symptoms flaring on the non-operated side, & sometimes even on the operated side, after one styloid has been removed. There has been speculation as to why this happens. The main thought is that when the first styloid is removed, the soft tissues in the area shift around a bit which can put more stress on the remaining styloid causing symptoms to flare on that side. Some symptoms can “cross over” to the side that’s already been removed, too. Also, in cases of bilateral ES it can be difficult to tell which styloid is causing which symptoms, so when one is removed the symptoms being caused by the remaining styloid become more pronounced. Those symptoms are initially more “quiet” after the first ES surgery because of the anti-inflammatory & pain meds given post op for the first styloid removed. Once those meds are out of the body, symptoms from the remaining styloid become more obvious.
The symptoms you’ve described having now can be caused by irritated cranial nerves i.e. the accessory (shoulder/neck pain), trigeminal, facial & vagus nerves (head pain - can also be caused by vascular compression as you know). These nerves are all known to be affected by ES & often recover nicely once the styloid that’s irritating them is removed.
We have members who’ve had pain get worse when laying down - especially headaches flaring up. Try keeping your head elevated when resting or sleeping. A wedge pillow can help w/ this. Some doctors recommend head elevation post op to help relieve swelling in the throat & neck. Many of us found a wedge pillow to be tremendously helpful post op & some even before surgery. Some people have also found icing their necks (15 min on & 45 min off) is helpful, even the non-surgical side. If ice makes it worse, try heat.
Some of our members have dry eyes & mouths as part of their ES symptoms. There was recently a discussion about that. The facial nerve stimulates the lacrimal glands for the eyes, & trigeminal nerve is responsible for salivation. Both of these can be irritated by elongated styloids so it is possible that your dry eye trouble is related both to your ethmoid sinus removal & nerve irritation. We have some members who also get the eye symptoms you’ve described as part of IJV compression from ES so getting a follow-up scan to make sure your IJV is still open is a good idea.
The following thread contains some discussion about dry eyes & mouth & possible helps for those: