Hello all, yesterday I got a consult for eagle syndrome and I’m going to get a CT Scan with contrast. This way the doctor will be able to tell what nerves are affected and if I really need surgery as I am very young (20). He didn’t feel much and said it doesn’t seem to be bothering me very much overall, which is good. I still want to know if I need them out if they’ll cause more trouble in the future, but I’m also worried about having a major surgery that could cause more damage.
The doctor did check and seemed to be considerate, but I can’t help but think that since I am so young they often overlook me. I went to a surgeon originally who barely even felt my neck, looked at the images, and said I didn’t have it and didn’t need surgery. This guy was much better but our appointment was about 10 minutes,
Here are the scans from my TMJ specialist who first noticed my condition.
In the second image, your styloid looks quite stubby, then there’s a gap & you can see more calcification on both sides (presumably the stylo-hyoid ligament; sometime a gap can be seen if the styloid has been fractured, but it is quite a big gap), then further down there’s more calcification on the ligaments both sides. It shows on the panoramic x-ray too but not as well.
Whether or not to have the surgery is a dilemma; if you’re not getting any symptoms then as there is a risk with surgery, it might be best to leave well alone. However, if you are having symptoms (if the syncope happens more & it isn’t down to dehydration), then it would be worth thinking about more.
Technically Eagles Syndrome isn’t just having elongated styloids, it’s having elongated styloids which cause symptoms. It’s thought that quite a few people are walking around with long styloids but not causing any issues so don’t have ES.
Lots of us do find we get more & more symptoms as we get older, so it could be you start to notice more in the future, & as you’re young, there is the possibility that you could get further elongation/ calcification as time goes on too, but it’s not a dead cert.
I’m afraid that the CT won’t show nerves at all, so there’s no way of knowing which nerves are close to the styloids- although if you’re not getting any pain at the moment, then your styloids shouldn’t be affecting any nerves- you’d have pain, or difficulty swallowing or the feeling of something stuck in your throat if that was the case. But the contrast CT will hopefully show if your carotid artery is being irritated or compressed by the styloid/ ligament as this can cause fainting.
I have some symptoms they’re just very brief and do not sound anywhere severe as everyone else’s. I get stabbing pain in my throat, pain below my chin by my throat, and and pain in my neck. I oftentimes get very bad GERD symptoms where I feel like something is stuck in my throat after I swallow meds or something bigger that is hard and it causes me very painful heartburn. I can’t remember the exact type of CT scan I’m getting but my mother (who is in the medical field) told me it should allow them to see the nerves and such. If not, then I hope I at least get some answers as to if I should get the surgery.
A FIESTA MRI shows nerves, but I agree w/ @Jules that we don’t know of any type of CT that would show them. The GERD symptoms can come from your vagus nerve being irritated. It is one of the nerves most commonly irritated by elongated styloids/calcified stylohyoid ligaments. I innervates many important functions in our bodies from throat to heart to intestines & even bowels & bladder. It helps regulate blood pressure & heart rate, contributes to anxiety, helps control breathing & swallowing plus the vocal cords. It’s the largest of our cranial nerves & keeps quite busy in our bodies! Vagus Nerve Image.docx (81.7 KB)
I also hope your CT demystifies the cause of your symptoms.
