@Gina1961 I hope that you’re able to see one of the doctors soon! What sort of tinnitus do you have? Is it a whooshing with your heartbeat? If so, that’s pulsatile tinnitus & is common with IJV compression. It often improves when the compression is removed, mine went quickly. Other sorts of tinnitus don’t alway resolve with surgery though…
@EagleEye20 , I’m glad that your surgery has helped & thanks for popping back on to give Gina info & support!
Hugs to you both
Hi Jules
No it is not pulsatilr as far as I know but Dr here thought it would go with styloid removal - can you elaborate on why surgery wouldn’t resolve other types of tinnitus - here’s my CT venogram showing the compression. Thank you for taking the time to talk me through everything. I am hoping to talk with one surgeon next week and am trying to get up to speed with what I should ask
@Gina1961 - I edited your image to remove some personal information that was visible. Thank you for posting your scan. Your IJV is quite obviously being squashed between your styloid & C1 so getting that fixed should be very helpful in reducing your symptoms.
If you want to reply point by point to anyone’s post, highlight the comment(s) you want to reply to & select QUOTE from the menu that appears above the highlighted area. That will add the quote to your reply & you can respond to it.
Pulsatile tinnitus is a common response to IJV compression. Non-pulsatile tinnitus can have other causes & thus is not always cured by IJV decompression surgery, but sometimes it is.
Thankyou for editing my post. I’m hoping it’s all linked - I woke up one day in Dec 23 with tinnitus and head pain (referred neck) and here I am now - what a journey! I sent my images to John Chaplin and Kevin Smith in NZ - Kevin Smith has just told me he can’t help me - he didn’t say why but I’m guessing it’s because it’s vascular. I’m looking forward to my tele consult with John Chaplin next week
I’m glad you’ve heard from Mr. Smith & can rule him out. Prof Elliott does deal w/ vascular ES but he’s quite a distance from you. I hope Dr. Chaplin can help you!
From what you’ve said, there’s a good chance your tinnitus is related to the IJV compression. I have loud, constant tinnitus but it’s from an inner ear surgery I had in 2019 where the surgeon removed too much of the thin bone in my ear that insulates from hearing sounds inside the head. The doctor who did my IJV decompression believes that’s what’s causing my tinnitus & may be a contributor to hearing loss in that ear. I have joked I have a good ear & a “God ear”. I can only hear His voice in my bad ear.
I love your attitude - I wanted to rule him out not vice versa! He just said he couldn’t help and wished me all the best - very disappointing to have no recommendation of where to go etc - thank goodness for all the wonderful members on the forums
He has great reviews and was recommended by a local ENT so I am hopeful
I hope your God ear gives you peace and lets you sleep thankyou once again for your input - I would be absolutely lost atm without all the help I have received from members on forums worldwide
@Gina1961 - Good work using the “QUOTE button”! You can put more than one quote in a message if you want rather than having to create a new post for each one.
I totally understand this. I’ve just gone through a similar thing w/ a doctor I’ve consulted who can do the surgery to fix/reduce my tinnitus. He is very specific in the tinnitus problem he’ll work on (Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome), & though I have dehiscence, it’s outside of the box for him but is the same type of surgery to fix. I think he just looked at my CT scan & didn’t bother to read my specific request of him so I fight on to find someone who is willing to at least talk to me.
Good luck - surely there will be someone in the US who can help you
There’s certainly compression of your IJV from your scans… looking lower down in your image, it looks as if there could be some compression around your clavicle area too? Some members have had TOS (Thoracic Outlet Syndrome) as well as ES, where blood vessels &/or nerves are compressed, which can cause pain, pins and needles, weakness etc in the arms…
Hopefully your tinnitus will resolve with surgery if it came on suddenly!
Thankyou I hope so - it has exploded like a grenade into my life affecting my sleep so badly - I lost 18kg last year from unexplained nausea - probably the compression of my vagus nerve. Not sure about the TOS - I had testing at Caring Medical and she said I had compression of my superior vena cava by my rib - no one has mentioned it since - is it a big deal?
I haven’t heard mention of superior vena cava compression on our forum. Did whoever gave you that information offer an explanation as to problems that could cause?
I looked up the relationship between the internal jugular vein & the superior vena cava & they’re all a major part of the venous system that drains the deoxygenated blood from the brain & carries it back to the heart. I don’t know enough to say whether or not your situation could be contributing to symptoms you have but any kinks along that major venous system could likely cause trouble.
I would’ve thought that’s something that should be looked into!
They didn’t think it was a major - hopefully that is right! The styloids seem to be the main issue. I had instability diagnosed C7/T1 so hoping prolo will sort it - that’s where the ribs attach to the spine and apparently it was my rib
I will check it out thankyou
Dr Chaplin recommended I go to Dr Elliott in Sydney. It seems there is no one in New Zealand that operates on vascular eagles
Just crazy…a head and neck vascular surgeon should be able to do the surgery because of where they’re used to operating
Is it possible for you to travel?
Yes I can although I would have preferred to have had it done here but there isn’t the expertise. He is a very experienced surgeon but had only done one surgery many years ago. He was very candid and said if it was him he would go to Dr Elliott.