Well it’s good that you have a diagnosis, so you know what you’re dealing with, and good that you’ve been referred to someone who is experienced. If you have time before your appt. you could read up a bit on the options for treatment & surgery, so that you’re a bit prepared and might think of some questions you want to ask. I wouldn’t worry too much about getting the styloid length measured more accurately if the scan shows clearly that it’s at an angle & near the carotid; it may be that the original scan can be re-read to look at the lengths if the new doctor is bothered, but to have another CT would mean more radiation, & to be honest the measuring isn’t always that accurate. (Quite a few members have noticed that their styloids when removed are longer than they appeared on the CT, it depends how well they show & the angle the CT is taken- Michael has put the results of a study he found on this in one of his recent posts if you’re interested.)
Hope that your appt. goes well, and let us know how you get on!
The doctor said it’s definitely compressing my internal carotid and touching the external on the left. He scheduled me for a robotic intra-oral surgery on January 31st. He didn’t think all of my symptoms were related to Eagle’s, but I would disagree. I’m pretty sure difficulty swallowing and dizziness are related…facial numbness I guess is questionable. He seemed to agree with all of the other symptoms. I’m looking forward to getting this taken care of.
Also, he mentioned that my right styloid was touching my jugular vein. My husband said that his impression was that the doctor was saying that was normal, but I wasn’t sure if that’s what he was saying or if that one is growing as well. Wondering if anyone knows?
If your right styloid is touching your jugular vein then it’s also elongated. Technically, a normal styloid is only about an inch (2.54 cm) long & doesn’t contact vascular tissues or nerves under normal circumstances. It’s really just an anchor point for 2 ligaments & 3 muscles:
“The Styloid Process is a pointed piece of bone that extends down from the skull, just below the ear. … The stylohyoid ligament, stylomandibular ligament, styloglossus muscle, stylohyoid muscle and stylopharyngeus muscle are attached to the styloid process.”
The styloid process & s-h ligament themselves supposedly play a minor role in swallowing so you really don’t miss them once they’re gone.
Thanks for the information! I had a feeling it wasn’t normal. He said my left styloid ligament is also calcified. I’m worried that I will eventually need to have the right styloid process removed as well, but I’ll criss that bridge if I get to it.
I agree with Isaiah about the jugular vein. Mine were compressed quite alot by the styloid & caused some pretty horrible symptoms… the dizziness could be cause either through compression of arteries or veins. Have I misunderstood- did he theink that the difficulty swallowing might not be down to Eagles? Strange, because that’s one of the most common symptoms! I had facial pain, & also numbness one side which was worsening- once the initial numbness of surgery went off it improved completely, so you might find surgery helps you too.
I’m interested that he’s going to use robotics for surgery; I’ve not heard of that before, but it could be used as a standard & we don’t hear about it, I think they’re using it alot for different surgeries now.
Anyway, glad that you have a date to ‘look forward’ to!
You did ready that correctly! I told him that I sometimes felt like I was choking (because it felt like my throat was locking up) while I was swallowing. I just don’t think he thought it could cause that. I’m confident that it does. He may not fully understand all of the symptoms related to Eagle’s, but he seems to be very confident and experienced with the surgery. He said robotics is a newer way than can access more of the styloid intraorally. He said he should be able to fracture it right up near the skull, which he wouldn’t be able to do with his hands. I feel like the burning on my toungue is getting worse. I hope that this goes away after surgery too. I’m going to talk to him further about the right side. I’m not really comfortable leaving it if it’s touching my jugular. I’m really looking forward to this surgery. I’m so tired of all of these symptoms.
Try to make sure that he’s ablt to smooth over the end of the remaining piece of styloid, or it could still cause problems… best wishes, let us know when you get a date!
Thank you Jules! He mentioned that they will smooth it out. My surgery is scheduled for January 31st.
That’s great news that you’ll be having surgery in a few weeks! I also send you hope for full disappearnce of your current symptoms. May they “fly away” w/ the styloid!
Thank you so much! I’m praying they do! I’m over it! 
When is your surgery?
January 31st. I’ll post how it goes and how this doctor does. I’m in Orlando, Florida so it would be nice for Central Florida people to have a closer option.