Hi there! I have had a pain in my left tonsil and base of my tongue next to the tonsil for the last several months. It is accompanied by intermittent deep ear pain and throat pain (sensation of something stuck in my throat). Now over the last 4-5 weeks, I have had terrible esophigitis with upper back pain. I’m not sure if this is related to the throat or all the damn antibiotics!
I had been to my GP and an ENT several times over the last several months. I was told it was likely a tonsil infection and prescribed three courses of antibiotics. The ENT told me I had to have my tonsils out, but when I went to my pre-op he (finally) thoroughly examined me and told me that he can’t do the surgery because my palate it too short and I would end up with essentially the equivalent of a cleft palate. He brought a second doctor in to confirm this.
After hearing this, when I got home, I got REALLY fed up with the prospect of living with this pain, so I started pushing around on my tonsil. Guess what? There is a pointy bone easily palpable in the lower part of my left tonsil! I scheduled another appointment with the ENT for Thursday; this time I will make him actually feel my tonsil! I’ll let you know what he says on Thursday.
It might pay you if you have time to read up as much as you can beforehand about ES, so you’re informed if your ENT doesn’t know much about it- because it’s quite rare, alot of doctors know very little (& that’s often wrong!). You could print out info from the research papers (there’s links in the Newbies Guide section) which supports your symptoms etc. to show your ENT if they haven’t heard of ES!
A CT scan is the best way to get a diagnosis of ES, so try to get one done if you can, & ask that it’s evaluated for ES i.e. that the length, width & angle of the styloid processes are measured, & that they look for any calcification of the stylo-hyoid ligaments.
Good luck with your appt., & hopefully you’ll find out more on Thursday!
Glad you have an appointment soon! I went to my gp when I found a hard lump under my jaw. I assumed it was a clogged salivary gland. He said it was “infected” & prescribed antibiotics. I never took them because I know what an infx feels like & this lump was not infected. Another doc I saw told me the lump felt calcified & I should see an ENT. I was very blessed to have the first ENT I saw diagnose ES & send me off for a CT scan to confirm. The results showed I had it bilaterally. I’m a more rare case because I was diagnosed so quickly. I had my first surgery 2 months after diagnosis & my second 9 months later. Surgery gave me my life back.
Went to the doctor this morning, he immediately confirmed this is Eagles. He said he can’t be sure that this is what is causing all the pain; you can only tell that in retrospect after having it removed. He doesn’t know of any surgeons in the Orlando area that do this kind of surgery. He is going to call me back later after researching it a bit. He also seemed to really be steering me away from surgery- that it is very risky. Although I’m not looking forward to surgery, I’m not really comfortable leaving it in there next to my carotid artery either!
Well, it’s good that he’s confirmed ES, that’s a start! I can completely understand you wanting surgery if you’re concerned that you have vascular ES. Have you looked at the list of doctors familiar with ES in the Doctors Info section? There are quite a few in Florida, unfortunately usually members have to be prepared to travel a way to see someone experienced. Here’s the link: Latest Doctors List 2017
There are risks with surgery, yes, but the experienced doctors do surgery reguarly, whereas most doctors without experience are cautious about it.
It’ll be interesting to see who he comes up with!