Hi Fam! Hope everyone is well.
Well, I may be finally getting somewhere. I heard from Dr. deSilva this morning. He said “no Eagles”. However, I have an elongated hyoid bone. The bone sits too far posteriorly and is way too close to the spine. Though a dynamic CT was not done, he said the hyoid bone is likely rubbing the spine on the right side. So, onward for more exploration. Anyone have experience with this?
There have been some pretty extensive threads in recent months about ‘hyoid bone syndrome’. Check out the search function and they should pop up.
Good that he’s prepared to help- as @coldbear says if you use the search function it’ll come up with some other discussions. I hope that you don’t have to have too much more testing!
@1speechpick Interesting. Ignore my previous question (edited the message). I have seen cases where the Hyoid Greater Horn was very close to the 4th Vertebrae but I went back to your earlier images, I was able to see it in one of the images you sent (bit faint because screenshots and zooming effect). I was focused on the left side earlier where it does lie between your Carotid bifurcation which is obvious on the image and could be rubbing one of your Carotid arteries. The old CT scan image DOES show the close proximity of the right Hyoid horn to the right Vertebrae. Do you have symptoms of clicking sound when swallowing? Do you have any swallowing difficulty? If the Hyoid bone was to get hooked on the Vertebrae, your swallowing will be affected I assume.
Red Arrow is pointing the right Hyoid Greater Horn sitting close proximity to the transverse process of one of the right Vertebrae ( Blue arrow).
Did he say anything about the left Hyoid horn (Red arrow) which is touching the left External Carotid artery (Cyan Arrow)
Hey, i’m glad to hear you are on the right track to finding some answers. I have what appears to be possibly a similar issue and somebody has linked my thread below.
Can I ask, which Dr De Silva is it you saw? Is it the plastic surgeon? This chap: https://www.londonfacialplasticsurgery.co.uk/ I ask as i’m still looking for someone to help with mine.
Best of luck to you and I hope you can find a resolution.
Dr Brad deSilva in Ohio, USA
Thank you. He is not concerned about the left horn, only the right one. He looked more deeply on the image on the left. As far as the right goes, yes I have awful symptoms. Clicking when swallowing, a choking feeling most of the time, and pretty bad right sided neck/ear/jaw pain. This diagnosis fits my symptoms, I think. I do have an updated CT.
Ok…good. I thought you were complaining about more lightheadedness and occipital pain. This is quite interesting. Please help @Callmestar1 who has been suffering from the same issue but not getting the kind care he deserved from UK.
Please bring the left side to his attention. The reason being is that the current CT is not CONTRAST enhanced so he can’t see Carotid interact with Hyoid Bone. You might wanna show him your old CT with Contrast and let him make a decision.
I am having lightheadedness still. And Dr. deSilva did review my older CT with contrast and didn’t think the left horn was an issue (not that I agree with him). I mentioned the bifurcation issue and he said it wasn’t an issue.
Well… I just wanted to make sure things are done properly so that they do not come back for another surgery in the same area. But it is not causing any symptoms at all then, the Dr. has the final say. I guess.
For the record, I agree with you. But the doctor always has the final say.
Let me know how I can help. Have you had imaging done? Dr. deSilva is an ENT in the USA.
He has a whole thread dedicated to his issues. You can see the images here. He has it on the right side as well. His right Hyoid horn is bulky and in close proximity. See the images in the link below.
@KoolDude @Callmestar1: Here is another image of my most recent neck CT (without contrast) showing the elongated hyoid bone in virtual contact with the cervical spine on the right side. I’ve circled the area of concern.
@1speechpick This is as close as I have ever seen the hyoid bone get to the vertebrae. They are virtually in touching distance. 
I sent this image to Dr. DeSilva. He confirmed this image is thr area of concern, and the hyoid bone is touching the cervical spine.
@1speechpick just so you know there are documented cases where there is a few millimeter space between the Hyoid horn and Vertebrae and they still make clicking sound and cause symptoms. Yours is even worse because virtually the space between the 2 is nonexistent.
It’s especially bad when you consider how mobile the hyoid bone is. The hyoid bone has anterior and superior movement during the swallow.
I want to thank the admIn staff of this site for allowing information on HBS to be posted on this site. I know it’s not Eagle’s. However, there seems to be a lot of crossover between the Eagle’s and HBS symptoms. Eagle Syndrome is rare but I think HBS is even more rare. It is so hard to get a diagnosis and appropriate intervention. It’s important to bring light to this condition. Thank you for letting us do that!
