Hi,
New to the forum and diagnosed with ES. Considering surgical options. Has anyone had the (supposedly new) technique? If good experience, can you recommend a physician that can perform it?
Jempa33
Any research papers published are great for us, as it gets the word out more about ES, and thanks for finding this, I’ll add it in the Newbies Guide.
It does sound a good approach if you’re going to have intra-oral surgery, as usually the tonsils have to be removed first this way, which often makes for a longer and painful recovery…obviously better! The only thing which I’d find a bit concerning is that they snap the SP, and haven’t mentioned smoothing the remaining end off, so the could be a rough edge which could still cause some problems- I’d query that if I was going in for surgery.
But at the end of the day, it’s still the external vs intra-oral approach argument so there’s pros and cons of each- the best advantage of external surgery is that more of the SP can be removed which gives a better chance of being symptom free later.
No-one’s mentioned having surgery this way- I notice the authors are based in India though. If someone’s considering intra-oral surgery, then it would be worth printing out and taking with you to ask your own doctor.
Jules is right, not my cup of tea. This is a pretty painful and also could be a dangerous surgery, near the jugular. I believe 2 things 1) As Jules said this doctor did no smoothing down of the styloid. My doctor did the same surgery with general anesthesia,which would allow him to take emergency procedures if he pricked the jugular. 2 Smooth the ends. A member that I met early on in my journey had the intraoral and the ends were not smoothed, he had to have a second surgery and as far as I know still today has pain. Perhaps the pain would have persisted regardless, but it would possibly have helped. That was 4 years ago.
My opinion: External surgery is the best for total removal of the styloid process(es) & calcified stylohyoid ligament(s) if you have those as well. I chose a surgeon who only does external surgery because that is the safest approach as far as visibility of nerves & vascular tissues go & the only way for total styloid removal. The oral approach only allows for shortening of the styloids, not full removal. Several people on this forum, have had their styloids shortened but not removed, & either have had pain start again or sometimes even regrowth of their styloids & then have needed remedial surgeries. Once on each side was enough for me!