Home after right styloid surgery in Pittsburgh!

General
1

Hello eagle members,

I had my intraoral styloid surgery, Thursday, July 25th at UPMC with Dr. Carl Snyderman. Dr. Snyderman is a very kind, easy going surgeon who diagnosed me with eagles a year ago. He is a neurologist/throat specialist and I felt very comfortable asking him to do my surgery. The surgery took one hour with a three hour recovery time (I sometimes have bad reactions to drugs). I was also released the same day but was really doped up and uncoordinated and not able to post anything. The next couple of days were rough with my right side of the throat hurting as well as my jaw and right ear. It hurt to swallow, talk, drink water and take medicine. The pain is similar to having your tonsils out except a bit worse in my experience. It is getting better with every day that goes by though. I have hope that everything is going to be just fine. We'll see in a month or so.

I had my post-op appointment with Dr. Snyderman, Monday July 30th. He checked me and said I was healing o.k. We went over the surgery results and he told me that he took out 2 1/2 cm of styloid bone that was curving inward toward my spine. He was as surprised as me about that because he told me that in the 3D CT Scan the end of the right styloid was hard to distinguish. He said it was very close to the spine. I was kind of stunned by that. I knew my symptoms had gotten worse through the year but didn't expect that. I guess that is why I had all those strange symptoms. Sometimes they need to have an eyes view on what is going on because scans don't always pick up on important details. I am lucky to have that curved viperbone cut out and relieved that it didn't pierce my spinal cord.

I still have a way to go before I know how many of my symptoms will diminish. After I have more time to recover, I will post on my progress. I just wanted to share my first hand experience with the hope of being able to help someone who has questions about the surgery and the after effects. Again I want to thank my eagle friends who gave me all their advice and support on what to expect after having styloid surgery. You guys are the best! I sincerely wish to all eagle syndromes sufferers the best of luck in whatever medical decision you make now or in the future. Take care and God bless!

Viperbone w/o her curved bone

2

Hello viperbone,

I'm glad to hear that you're home and starting to feeling better. Ice worked pretty well for my jaw pain after surgery. I have two of those gel ice packs that are bendable and I kept swapping them. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Dawn

3

I am happy for you, Viperbone. This is great news. I am just an hour south of you on I-79; I will keep Dr. Snyderman in mind, although I hope I never have to contact him. Happy healing! JR

4

One week and two days out of right intraoral surgery and I am feeling a bit better. I have a dry and itchy throat that I believe comes from the stitches as the area heals with some lingering throat and ear pain. The right side of the jaw is also sore. I know it is still early in the recovery part but I am noticing some improvement in my symptoms. Five more days left on the horse pill antibiotics and then I will try to eat some normal food little by little. Will post again in a couple of weeks with the hope of more symptoms diminishing.

Viperbone w/o her curved bone

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Hi Viperbone,

Thank you for the update. Sharing your experience is valuable to this group and your good news is encouraging!

Dawn

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Without her curved viperbone!!! Love it.

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Hello;

I have an upcoming visit with Dr. Snyderman for Eagles surgery eval. Can you tell me how you have done post op?

Thanks;
R. Devine

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This was quite an old post, so the member may well not be on here any more. You could try clicking on their avatar & send them a private message; did you ever try that after you posted before to ask about this doctor? I’ve done a quick search of the past discussions, there doesn’t seem to be any more recent mentions of Dr Snyderman unfortunately!
I’ll post a link to the current doctors list, in case you want a second opinion:
US Doctors Familiar With ES, Current List - Symptoms and Treatments / Doctor Information - Living with Eagle
Let us know how you get on with Dr Snyderman!

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If Dr. Snyderman doesn’t work out, Dr. Dedhia was very helpful for one of our members who only had ligament calcification but not elongated styloids. He did bilateral surgery for her which stopped her ES symptoms.