I haven’t had surgery with Mr Hughes, I saw Mr Axon, so I’m not sure exactly what he’ll do… without seeing your scans we can’t say for sure, but to clarify the styloids can grow long, or the stylo-hyoid ligaments can calcify. Sometimes you can’t see where the styloid ends & where the ligament starts are they fuse together. The ligaments go from the styloid to the hyoid bone, and sometimes they can calcify the whole length, which it sounds like yours has, sometimes the ligaments calcify from the hyoid upwards, and sometimes there are small segments of calcification dotted along the ligament. So hopefully you can get clarity from Mr Hughes and make sure he’ll remove all the calcified parts. If yours have calcified all the way down to the hyoid then that is pretty extreme! But Mr Hughes does remove the styloids & doesn’t snap them & leave them in.
If you use the search function to look up Mr Hughes, it should come up with discussions by others who’ve had surgery with him & there might be more info about waiting times…
I’m sorry that you’re feeling so rough , hugs and prayers for a swift appointment & surgery 
I’m also sorry for how bad your symptoms are & hope you can get an appt. with Mr. Hughes very quickly.
Thank you Isaiah
Im going to lie i am struggling now 
Im very worried that there going to break off and do some damage, i know its a extreme question but if one of them decided to break off would there be enough muscle and issue to hold them in place as in stay in the place until i get surgery?
It is unusual for them to break off, unless you were doing extreme sports, having a chiropractic session, etc. Some members have found wearing a soft collar helps keep their head in a comfortable position, so maybe that’s something you could try, & it might help you worry less? …but there are lots of muscles in the neck. We have had a few members who have had fractured styloid processes, and it is painful, some have had it happen a long time before they’re diagnosed.
Sending you a hug
Thank you Jules for the reassurance 
i sure he said my right side, the one thats down to my hyoid bone was fractured so am i right in saying that will come out from the skull base, thats the one i get alot of clicking and clacking and popping sometimes it even sounds like a machine gun 
, and its really loud in my ear, looking back i dread to think what could of happened because the doctor prescribed me muscle relaxants because they thought i had tmjd, i went on a rock climbing holiday 
just resting in bed alot now as i just get breathless just walking up the stairs, hoping i get a appointment soon 
i have requested my scan so as soon as i receive it I’ll share it on here xx
I look forward to seeing your scan, @Adele007. It sounds like your right styloid is pretty spectacular! I am sorry, though, that your symptoms are so bad. As @Jules said, there’s very likely little worry of it spontaneously breaking & there are muscles that hold it in place even if it breaks. I don’t think that should be a worry for you.
Hope everything goes well for you and you don’t have to suffer with the symptoms for too long. Keep us updated!
Hi skatkat
Iv not been great these past couple of days, iv had some really weird feeling in my throat mainly, and lots of really loud booming, clicking, clacking I also think my oesophagus is under tension so my anxiety has been going through the roof as you can imagine, I can only sleep in one position aswell all other positions acerbate my symptoms aslo my heart is racing ten to the dozen possibly a mixture of anxiety and the amitriptyline, I’v also been getting that falling feeling alot mainly when I’m trying to get off to sleep.
I just hope i get an appointment soon hopefully this coming week thank you to everyone for always being on here for me 
Have you been referred on the NHS or private? It takes a long time on the NHS 
That’s horrible, sending you hugs
I did have palpitations with Amitriptyline when I upped the dose a bit- from 20mg up to 30mg, what are you taking?
Hi skatkat
Iv been referred on Private are you still waiting?
Yeah same im on amitriptyline aswell and im on 20mgs i was hoping not to go any higher because you have to wean yourself off them so im just going to grin and bear it and hope a phone call comes soon, I got a copy of the referral letter and it says right side calcified down to my hyoid bone so no wonder im feeling all the clicking and popping, I’m more calmer today, im up and down like a yo-yo just waiting for the phone call now hopefully it should be this week:pray: thank you so much for your suport it has been incredible still waiting for a copy of my ct scan.
Mines a bit more complicated, I saw Dr Hughes on private, got my CT scan and was told I had long styloid processes (3.2cm & 3.6 cm) and discontinuous calcification of the ligaments but Dr Hughes wasn’t convinced that it was causing all of my symptoms and at the time I wasn’t 100% sure so we decided that I would go to see someone about TMJ to rule that out, have my wisdom teeth removed which made no difference and I continued to have physio for my neck which also made no difference. The difficulty for me is that this all took time and I’m a bit confused about the diagnosis, I really don’t want to have the operation because I’m terrified of having operations but I would do it if it got rid of my symptoms. The other issue I’ve got is that I have BVD as well, my right eye has a 4th nerve weakness which is also causing lots of symptoms and could be causing the calcification so I might feel better if that was corrected but I need to see a squint specialist for that. I have had so many scans and tests to get this far on my insurance and I don’t want them to think I’m committing fraud or anything, I’m not sure if there’s a limit on the claims. I also know that if I have IVJ compression that might also cause the eye symptoms so I need to try to get a CT scan. I’ve changed my GP recently and I’m going to ask if they’ll do it or refer me back to Dr Hughes.
I’m sorry your path to a proper diagnosis hasn’t been more straight forward, @Skatkat. Interesting that Dr. Hughes diagnosed you w/ elongated styloids & discontinuous s-h ligament calcification yet wasn’t convinced this could be the source of your symptoms especially because they align w/ those seen w/ ES. Sigh… I hope that you can get a CT scan w/ contrast to see if there is any vascular compression & that your next appt w/ Dr. Hughes is more productive for you.
Hi Isaiah
I couldnt stand the pain any longer so i took a muscle relaxant as it worked last time for a couple of days, and i can feel the left styloid has been knocked off 
im hoping its stuck in the muscle like you said, im so scared, iv got the ENT specialist ringing me later, do you think i should ask for another scan before i see mr hughes?
I think you should just go ahead & see him, I wouldn’t try & get another scan as this would be more radiation, and potentially delay surgery…It could be as the muscles relaxed with the medication it’s just altered the position of the styloid slightly. Sending you a hug
I agree with every @Jules said. She’s given you good advice. The sensations the styloid cause do change around which can be concerning. I hope the muscle relaxant helped relieve your pain. I hope you got a call back from the ENT that helped calm you.
My appointment with mr hughes isnt until the 7th of February so iv upped my amitriptyline to 30mg, i feel that taken that muscle relaxant just made things worse this is a nightmare 
Yes i got a call back and said that if it has broken off the muscle would of caught it, but he also said that bones are tough and can’t be broken off that easily but i just know it doesnt feel the same on the left side, i just want this to be over… its torture 
not only physically its mentally torture aswell