Hi & welcome to the site!
Because this is your first post you wouldn’t have been able to upload images, I’ve altered that now so you should be able to upload them now…
Firstly ES can be caused by neck trauma, so it’s possible that BJJ has contributed to that; if you had surgery it’s worth considering whether you want to continue training if it could affect the other side. (As well as needing a long time to heal from surgery)
It could be that your tonsil has been irritated by the styloid poking it, & possibly if you had the styloid removed it might settle down. Having intra-oral surgery is a more painful recovery as you’ve said, is more likely to get infected, & as the surgeon doesn’t have as good a visibility they can’t safely remove as much as of the styloid, so it might not be enough to ease symptoms. With external surgery, more of the styloid can be removed so there’s a greater chance of the surgery being successful, & the surgeon has better visibility of nerves & blood vessels, which makes it less risky. But we don’t know for sure if your tonsil will settle down…
Here’s a link to the doctors list as it sounds as if you want a second opinion:
Doctor Lists – no discussion - Symptoms and Treatments / Doctor Information - Living with Eagle
You can search for any of the doctors names in the past discussions to see what members have had surgeries with them, for example several people saw Dr Nathan Hales not that long ago. We also have a list of questions that you could ask doctors before you decide:
- How many ES surgeries have they done and what was the success rate?
- Whether they’re going to operate externally, or intraoral- through the mouth. Whilst some members have had successful surgeries with intraoral, external is better for seeing all the structures, to be able to remove more of the styloids, & also there’s less chance of infection.
- You need to ask how much of the styloid he’ll remove- as much as possible is best- & anything left needs to be smoothed off. The piece needs to be removed too- some doctors have snapped it off & left it in! If the styloid is only shortened a bit it can still cause symptoms.
- If your stylohyoid ligaments are calcified, then any calcified section needs to be removed too.
- There’s usually swelling after surgery; you could ask if a drain’s put in to reduce swelling, or if steroids are prescribed. It’s not essential, but can help with recovery a bit.
- Will it be a day case surgery or will you need to stay in?
- Obviously ask the risks- we know from experience on here that temporary damage to the facial nerve is quite common, and also the hypoglossal nerve and the accessory nerve. These usually recovery very quickly but in some cases members have needed physiotherapy. There is also the risk of catching a blood vessel or having a stroke, but these are very rare.
- Ask if the surgeon monitors the nerves- this should be done to see if there’s stress on the nerves to avoid damage as mentioned above.
- What painkillers will be prescribed afterwards.
- Ask about recovery- most doctors either down play it or are genuinely unaware of how long the recovery can take!