So sorry for your current challenges, Snapple! I hope your preferred ENT agrees w/ your assessment of the MRI results & some progress can be made toward a diagnosis & treatment.
I had a follow up with my oral surgeon yesterday for my dental implant that I had installed in September where I received a CT scan of the oral area which also shows my styloid. I asked for copies because I was interested to see how the styloid had changed since I had the surgery. You can see it has been shortened, but it also looks like it has been fractured. I’m not sure if that is just a distortion of the image somehow or if that is what it actually looks like in my head. I don’t understand how it would just be suspended there. It will be a question I have for the ENT who performed my surgery when I follow up with him in about a week.
As far as symptom resolvement, I weaned off of the gabapentin so I could see where I am at with the pain. The throbbing pain I had over my front left teeth has gone away for the most part, the pain signal is different and it’s very mild… Jaw pain has been minimal now that I am 3 weeks post op. I had some cheek pain yesterday but it’s not presenting this morning yet. I haven’t ruled out completely that some of my pain is from me clenching my teeth at night but I also have in the back of my mind that some of this pain could be caused by the remaining styloid. But the pain is nowhere near where it was so just trying to stay positive for now.
It does look like it’s been fractured, I agree…we have heard of surgeons doing this before, fracturing the styloid & leaving the piece(s) in, but it’s not good as the piece left in can still cause inflammation & injure nerves etc. I would definitely want to ask the ENT about that, it’s good that you’ve seen an improvement in symptoms though. If this is the case you may need corrective surgery with someone more experienced in the future…