Hi Vkossa, my surgeon was Doctor Rodney Taylor (head and neck surgeon) and Doctor Elizabeth Guardiani (ent surgeon). University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Md. They were great.
I am in the Annapolis area and was wondering what you could tell me about Dr. Taylor and Dr. Guardiani. I am just finding out about ES after so many years of going from Dr. to Dr. and them looking at me like I was crazy. I am a singer and musical theater teacher and have 7 children ages 1-16. I have Right elongated styloid process, possible carotid compression. I have had vocal weakness and pain for a while and also blacking out when putting stretching my neck in certain ways. Did you have a good experience with this dr.'s Are they very experienced in the field? Thanks for any info you can share.
Hi Priscilla,
In case jonsty doesn’t answer (sometimes members leave the forum after they are all recovered from surgery & ES symptoms are mostly gone), I will recommend a couple of other doctors who are very experienced w/ ES. They would require for you to travel out of state, though. Dr. Cognetti or Dr. Newman in Philadelphia would both be good choices. Dr. deLacure in NYC, Dr. Annino in Boston, or Drs. Hackman or Patel in Chapel Hill, NC, would also be good options.
Here’s a link to other posts about Dr. Guardiani - https://forum.livingwitheagle.org/search?q=Dr.%20Guardiani
I hope this helps.
Thank you! Which doctor did you use? And which one do you think is the most experienced? I have an appointment set up with Dr. Guardiani on Tuesday. But would like to see the best. Also just heard about another option for treatment, Prolotherapy Treatment. Have you heard of it? Wondering if anyone on here has ever done this. https://www.caringmedical.com/prolotherapy-news/eagle-syndrome/
Prolotherapy I’ve heard mixed things about! It’s been discussed on here before, here’s a couple of links you might find interesting:
You can use the search function to look for more mentions if you like!
Hi Priscilla,
I believe the most experienced ES doctor in the US is in California - Dr. Hussein Samji. He’s done close to 500 ES surgeries. He did my surgeries in 2014 & 2015 when his ES surgery numbers were in the 70s. He’s a musician & vocalist himself & chose as his medical specialty cancers of the throat & neck because of that. ES has become a prominent part of his practice now since it can affect the voice & obviously other critical body functions. Surgery almost always restores full vocal ability but it does take time for healing after surgery.
If you are able to travel to CA, he would be a good option for you. Here’s his contact information: •Dr Hussein Samji, Camino ENT Clinic, San Jose 408- 227- 6300 http://www.caminoent.com/professionals/drhussein-samji-camino-ent.html (one of the most experienced ES surgeons in the US, does external surgery.) Contact his medical assistant Yerelin@caminoent.com for a faster response.
1 Like
Ive had many rounds of prolo therapy administered by some orthopedic surgeons on and off for about 10 years. The purpose of it was to tighten my ligaments because I am hypermobile and they felt I had been over-adjusted by chiropractors and my neck couldnt hold an adjustment very long. years later, I found the hypermobility was Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - a connective tissue disorder. Well I still go to chiropractors and get alot of massage including cranial-sacral work. I cant say that prolo-therapy ever really did much for me. The needles may have broken up the muscle tension. My muscles get very tight in my shoulders and neck and I think the massage and a thing called dry-needling has helped the most. Given the nature of Eagles, I dont think prolo will be of any benefit and only surgery will fix it. There has even been times I wondered if it was the prolo injections in my neck that caused the calcifications? It probably didnt but it did cross my mind.