Hi & welcome to the site!
So sorry that you’ve been dismissed & are discouraged, but I think it sounds like you did a great job of advocating for yourself with your ENT, so should give yourself a pat on the back!
Firstly the CT you had done wouldn’t have shown any nerve compressions as nerves can’t be seen on a CT, so don’t feel bad about that. If you notice the dizziness etc is worse when your head’s turned, then it sounds like that’s when you potentially get vascular compression, and unless a CT with contrast was done with your head in that position, it possibly wouldn’t show any compression.
There’s lots of info about which nerves can be affected by ES & symptoms members have had in the Newbies Guide Section- for example the Glossopharyngeal nerve is commonly irritated & that can cause stabbing pain in the throat like you’ve been experiencing, & possibly ear pain. The Trigeminal Nerve has 3 branches & can cause pain along the jaw & around the ear, same with the Facial nerve. The Vagus nerve also gets irritated, & that can cause tachycardia/ arrhythmias, blood pressure issues, anxiety…The dizziness can be vascular or otherwise caused by the Vestibular Cochlear nerve.
You mentioned Occipital Neuralgia; I did comment on another post, I’m not sure if it could be compressed by the styloid as it originates around the C2 & C3 vertebrae but it does seem to be a common symptom- maybe the muscles in the neck get tense because of ES pain & it squeezes the nerve?
There are ‘Two minute Neuroscience’ clips on YouTube for all the Cranial Nerves so you can see their pathways if you’re interested? & here’s a link to a video about the Occipital Nerve:
Occipital nerves: Origin, course and function | Kenhub
Although you say you’ve done lots of research, so you probably already know this!
Have you had your neck checked out for any other injury after your basketball accident?
I’d suggest seeing one of the doctors on our list who have experience of ES if you can, at least then you’ll be talking to someone who does understand it! Here’s a link to the list, you can use the search function to look up doctors on here & see when members saw the, for example a couple of members have seen/ had surgery with Dr Nathan Hales recently:
Doctor Lists – no discussion - Symptoms and Treatments / Doctor Information - Living with Eagle
No doctor will say that surgery will eliminate all the symptoms, but if other conditions have been ruled out and your quality of life is being badly affected, then it’s worth pursuing…
I hope that you can get somewhere with one of the doctors!
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