Thank you, I appreciate it! I did end up finding the CD! It might be a couple of days until I can take a looks at it. Your circles are on point with where I thought they might be.
I wish I knew about ES before removing my wisdom tooth. Afterwards, the pain was like I had a chinstrap pulling my temples/base of my skull backwards. I added a picture for context (this pic was from 2 months after the removal). Have you experienced any skull base or shoulder pain with any of your symptoms?
@CTT, I can tell you that I experience near constant skull base pain and shoulder pain.
SCM massages, temporalis massages, and shoulder massages bring a little relief to me after finding someone who specializes in TMJ massage. They also go after my masseter and medial pterygoids for some symptom relief. We have been very careful after learning about Eagle’s syndrome, but they did some independent research and we typically avoid anything right below the ear/behind the jaw since that area seems to flare my symptoms.
Highly recommend finding someone who might be able to help in that regard, it is the one thing that’s brought a little relief while I was waiting on a diagnosis. But go slow and be careful of any neck exercises/movements, as it can make symptoms worse. The massage therapist and I really had to go slow at the beginning to make sure nothing flared anything up.
@JGont Thank you for the advice! I didn’t even think about getting treatment on the medial pterygoids. My acupuncturist and I started off slow, but gradually more intense treatments (focusing on the upper traps and electro-acupuncture from the neck up) have worked much better for me because my upper traps were so knotted. Wearing a daily flexible (non-ridged) shoulder corrector between appointments to keep my shoulders/clavicle level has also been a game-changer. It really helps to maintain the treatment and has increased my progression for upcoming sessions.
@Jules All your advice has been ! The spinal accessory nerve controls the SCM and trapezius muscles. To make it more fun, the upper portion of the upper traps sit over both sides of your clavicle and tops your shoulders acting structurally like the arch of a coat hanger, which helps to support the weight of your head/arms. So, if ES starts affecting the traps—you are essentially in a tug-of-war trying to balance your head and your shoulders.
Thank you for sharing that article, it will definitely come in handy at my upcoming appointments. The advice @JGont gave is on point. The treatments I had before knowing about ES only helped for a short amount of time because the approach to the treatment was wrong. I ended up having to do 3-4 treatments a week just to function and in the end it worsened my symptoms. I’m making really good progress with the acupuncturist I’m working with now. I’ve never tried a myofascial release massage but it’s something that I will look into.
@JGont - Thank you for taking the time to look at these images more closely. Sometimes I look too quickly & miss important things.
@CTT - Styloids that aren’t longer than normal don’t show up in panoramic x-rays so the fact yours are very visible is an indication that they’re pretty long.