This is a succinct report on my own ES surgical experience via Dr. John Milligan, from the AOC Group in PHX, AZ last 20230327.
I’m a Periodontist, an oral surgeon myself, and am fairly well informed of the Eagle Syndrome condition, its TX modes and PX. My first impression of Dr Milligan was extremely favorable, and my subsequent experiences confirmed the correctness of such an impression. Dr Milligan’s bedside manner is impeccable, he held my hand and prayed with me right before the surgery. I was very surprised by the coincidence, as I always request divine guidance before performing any surgery myself. Dr Milligan’s gentleness helped assuage the fears that I as a clinician, had developed concerning the risks inherent to the procedure. Post Op I only required 1 pill of Oxycodone, and did not require any more narcotics for pain control. IIRC, I was prescribed Demerol /Fentanyl but never needed it., just NSAIDs. I chose to stay in PHX a for week until the Post Op visit, and was visiting museums 48H after my surgery. My horribly incapacitating pain is utterly gone, and healing has been uneventful. I went back to work at our hospital two weeks after surgery. Dr. Milligan is an extremely skilled surgeon, I found him through this website and personal inquiries, he is also very well known amongst the ENT community in PHX. Personal professional advice: Even if your insurance has coverage limitations, .I would do the procedure with Dr. Milligan, pay out of pocket, and submit later to my company to recoup whatever you can. This is a seriously incapacitating condition that can make you live in terror for the rest of your days. You can’t simply go to any surgeon that claims they can do the procedure, as you may end dealing with complications that can make the rest of your life a nightmare. Check how many procedures of this type the surgeon has performed. AFAIK, Dr. Milligan has performed in excess of 400. Wishing you all the same results I got. G Bless!
Dr Manuel L. Iravedra, COL USAR.
Thank you for sharing your experience with Dr. Milligan @celtan. When I joined this forum in 2014, & for a couple of years after, a number of our members had gone or were going to him for surgery, but in the last several years his name hasn’t come up very often. I’m so glad to hear he’s still doing ES surgeries and hasn’t lost his touch both in his surgical proficiency with ES & with his great bedside manner.
Thank you Col Iravedra and thank you for your service!
Wonderful report and outcome.
If you have time and so inclined, would love to know the specifics of your situation… regular ES, VES, unilateral, bilateral, symptoms, etc.
Hello
I moved to AZ 5 years ago shortly after having surgery for ES, i felt good about 9 months then symptoms started again shortly thereafter. I saw Dr. Milligan but i wasnt quite ready for surgery again…then i changed jobs, the pandemic happened and i moved from AZ back to California. Im back in AZ now and the first thing i did was call Dr. Milligan byt he was no longer accepting new patients. I was considered new again because of hiw much time had past. So instead they scheduled with with another Dr there and i agreed…i was at least opened. Aftrr my appt i was disappointed so i called back and requested Dr. Milligan…come to find out he is retiring but they said i could send a message to his nurse which i did. This was just last week. I will be calling back again this week so i can have him either consult me or refer me to someone else. So glad you are happy with him. He comes highly recommended.
I’m SO SORRY to know both that you had ES surgery that didn’t help you & that Dr. Milligan is retiring. He’s helped many of our members who live in that area & some who traveled from out of state to see him. He’s been very reliable in doing ES surgeries with great results. Please ask him, if you do have a consult, if there’s someone he’s personally trained to do ES surgery as that would possibly be a good person to see. If you don’t find another doctor in AZ to help you (there are others on our Doctors List), then please check back here, & we can give you recommendations in other states.
So sorry that you’ve had symptoms return, and that Dr Milligan is retiring. I hope that he can either help you or recommend someone else…
Thank you for sharing your experience and advice. Before I had a styloidectomy with Dr. Cognetti I had a consult with Dr. Osborne who mentioned that to be considerd experienced, a surgeon should be doing one styloidectomy a month. He indicated that he does one a week. I agree that where ever possible, seek out the best. How comforting to hear that he prayed. So happy to hear of your success in gaining relief from your symptoms.
Happy day after Christmas. I had ES surgery 5 days before Christmas with Dr. Milligan. I am feeling grateful and glad he could perform the operation before retiring. Blessings and prayers to you all.
That’s such great news, @Treaves! He has a legacy of doing successful ES surgeries. I’m so glad you were able to see him and hope you recover quickly & well!
Best wishes for a speedy recovery! 
