I had the ligament and styloid moved from neck stayed over night .But Dr decided to no place drain tube I’m swollen so huge and the pain meds aren’t touching it
help what should I do is this normal
Hi, I was extremely swollen for the first few days after surgery, but it improved very rapidly. It helped me a lot to keep ice on it and to keep my head higher than my heart. Hopefully you will see improvement soon. It is remarkable how well our bodies heal themselves
Hi Helenee,
I’m so glad you’ve finally had surgery! If you can tolerate steroids, ask your surgeon for a prescription for Prednisone. It will help a lot. Also, as onelessstyloid mentioned, ICE, ICE, ICE! Have your husband get you 2 gel ice packs w/ covers if possible. Ice your incision area for 15 minutes then take at least a 45 min. break before using ice again. Do this 3-5x or more per day. Put a thin towel between the ice pack & your skin.
Sleep with your head elevated a lot - almost sitting up. We recommend using a wedge pillow with other pillows on top of it both to increase the elevation & to make it more comfortable. You can buy one from Bed, Bath & Beyond. Some people like the neck pillows like you would use on an airplane & find they help support your neck after surgery.
Take your pain medication according to the schedule your doctor gave you even if it doesn’t feel like it’s helping. You will feel even worse without it. The first week after surgery is when your pain and swelling will be the worst. By the second week you will gradually start feeling better.
Your incision looks very good. Your surgeon did a nice job. Your styloid & ligament are very long. No wonder you were having so much trouble. I know you will need a second surgery. You will most likely feel like some of your ES symptoms are still there as you heal from this surgery. That is because your remaining styloid & calcified ligament are still in there causing problems. It is NOT because this surgery didn’t work.
I will be praying for you to have pain relief this week & for you to heal quickly so you can have your second surgery and be done with ES!
Sending you a gentle hug. 
That’s a big ole chunk gone, not surprising that you’re swollen! Definitely keep semi-upright to help with the swelling, & ice if you can. Eat ice cream too 
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Lots of you going through recovery together at the moment, keep reading those posts too & you’ll realise ups & downs of recovery are normal. Prayers for you too 
Goodness, you’ve been through so much! Your body needs time to repair itself from the surgery. Deep breaths along with what everyone else suggested. As long as I thought I was ok (medically), I found distracting myself with shows/movies was my only hope to not panic in those first 4-6 weeks.