Possible calcified stylohyoid...

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Possible calcified stylohyoid, what to do next?

Hey everyone! I found out about this forum from reddit,

So, I have noticed pain on my right throat side, from the inside, when I swallow saliva hard, or when I open my mouth wide and I can also feel it from the outside around my jaw corner when I make certain movements.

If I insert my index far down my throat I can feel a bone like structure under my palatine tonsil, on the painful side. It hurts when I press on it and I believe that to be the source of the issue. It seems to extend upwards behind the tonsil itself, it’s behind the throat tissue, and I can sort of trace it upwards until I can touch the tonsil then I cant palpate it anymore but I think it continues behind it.

The thing is, this hard, cartilage like structure, seems to pop out and protrude if I turn my head to the opposite side, like if I place my index on it and turn my head I feel it bulge, when I turn both to the left and up. I can also sort of “push it” with my finger and it’s painful to do so.

I went to two ents, one of them did flexible nasoendoscopy said everything looked fine and the thing I was palpating was lymphatic tissue. (Btw, this is a maybe important note, this all started as I was touching and looking at the area bcs I have had hpv16 dysplasia and was worried something could be going on with my tonsils, ao I was just “checking”, paranoid for a few days right before the onset of the pain started, so I thought for a very long time that I could just have caused it from touching?). Another ent just didn’t even bother, looked quickly and said everything looks “fine”. I can also palpate a lump under my jaw, where the salivary gland would be, it’s movable, not necessarily painful and the first ent said that’s just your salivary gland even tho on the other side, I can feel it but it’s smaller.

After looking online for many many months (I have had this pain since 7 months now, everything has been stable), I found out about ES and a calcified stylohyoid, and it was definitely an AHA moment, I feel like this could be what it is.

So my question for you amazing people, is what to do next? Where do I go for a proper diagnosis and what tests to request.

I am 29, female and overall healthy.

Thanks a lot!

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Hi and welcome!
I’ve sent you a welcome message with info about the site & where you might find answers etc. but I think you were quick off the mark posting so you probably hadn’t seen it!
It does sound like you are feeling your styloid, they can often be felt around the tonsil area if they’re elongated, & feeling more pain when you push on it makes it even more likely! (I would be careful doing that though as sometimes the styloids can fracture) The small lump you can feel under your jaw could be a salivary gland, or otherwise a lymph node- both can get swollen with ES.
If you’re able to get a CT, this shows the styloids best- ask for it to cover the base of the skull down to the hyoid bone, and ask that they evaluate it for ES, looking at the length, thickness and angle of the styloids. If you can get this done, ask for copies of your imaging too, so you can have a look yourself.
We have a list of doctors familiar with ES, here’s a link:
Doctor Lists – no discussion - Symptoms and Treatments / Doctor Information - Living with Eagle
The ENTs you saw obviously are unaware of ES, so if you could see a doctor from the list who is familiar with it, then hopefully they would be able to help you.
I don’t know the Spanish health care system, if it’s very hard for you to get a CT and to get a referral to a different doctor?
Here’s a link to the Newbies Guide as well which has info about symptoms, getting diagnosed, treatments etc.
Latest Welcome/Newbies Guide to Eagle Syndrome topics - Living with Eagle

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