Hello all! I am 15 days post op external styloidectomy and hyoidectomy. The jugular was attached to muscle and and tangled with nerves.
I am still quite swollen on my neck and jaw area. I also still have some numbness and a sore throat.
Does this sound normal and I just need to be more patient?
Thank you
Yes it sounds normal & patience is a virtue when it comes to healing from ES surgery. It will take 4-6 weeks for your swelling to go away more completely, & it may take up to a year for your nerves to fully heal though you should start feeling significantly better by 2 months post op. Symptoms may come & go over the next several months, too.
For your throat, try sucking on ice chips or popsicles. The cold from those should help your throat feel better at least temporarily.
Thank you!
I’m two weeks post surgery too, but not for eagle, for resection of thyroid cartilage. But yeah the numbness, croaky voice, swelling, pain to touch and move, all still there for me too. Sore throat is just starting to diminish now, but still hurts to sneeze! 
I hope you are feeling much better soon. And your symptoms resolve in time.
Edit: I should have said that for me personally these are improving daily and are all SO much better than first few days post surgery.
@Nikkimm, it’s rough, but especially if yours was a slightly difficult case then to still have swelling doesn’t sound abnormal, keep up with icing & sleeping propped up if you’re able. Hope you feel better soon 
& @F_t I hope that you start to improve soon also, best wishes to you as well
Ooh definitely agree sleeping propped up! That was really helpful!
And thanks @Jules !
Sleeping propped up also helped me a lot! I slept that way for 6 weeks post op.
I hope your symptoms continue to fade at a steady rate @F_t. 
Hi @Nikkimm
I just want to wish you all the best in healing
Ice packs really helped out a lot to keep swelling down for me as well
Sucking on ice and putting it towards to back of throat
I think the hard part was being patient and to go easy with turning and bending for a while
I think we all want to heal up as fast as possible so we can get back to life pain free
And I had to restrain myself for a bit and just do easy things
I was wondering about the hyoidectomy,
Was this discussed prior to the surgery? Or something that was found to be needed when he got in there?
Do you know if that is the same thing as a “hyoid suspension” or hyoid myotomy?
I saw in my surgical notes from veros, that a hyoid myotomy code and procedure was done during my styloidectomy . This is as not discussed prior in my case
I had wondered about how the hyoid stability is affected after the styloid ligaments are removed or cut back, and if that is just part of the styloidectomy process?
Also was there any discussion about how the jugular gets attached to muscles ? “adhesion “
I was told that I also had jugular adhesion to my ohmahyoid muscle on the right side and dr Hepworth did a resection there. Cut it in half and cleaned the jugular from adhesion
Also the sleeping propped up on a firm couch with pillows worked well for me two
Best regards and swift healing
Thanks for your tips and thoughts! I definitely want to hurry my healing along! This was surgery #13 in 4 years and I’m just over it (insert eye roll!)
For me, the hyoidectomy was a decision made when he got in there. I needed it on both sides due to compression. I thought I would need a C1 shave on the second side, so the hyoid was a small price to pay. It’s actually just the cornus of the hyoid, or the small sticky out part of the bone if you google images of it. That’s the piece that breaks off in manual strangulation (so now my husband can get away with so much more…)
This is not the same as the hyoid myotomy procedure you underwent, so I’m of no help with stability questions. Fortunately, you know how great Dr. Hepworth is at answering questions! I hope you have time with him soon to address this. I also had an omohyoid myectomy. For me, it made a huge difference in shoulder range of motion- that I was not expecting.
I don’t know how the vein to muscle adhesions develop, or how nerves tangle like spaghetti. At least we get to provide our docs with interesting cases!
Thanks and be well.
@Nikkimm - Love your sense of humor! You sure made me laugh w/ the comment about your husband & your final sentence! I hope your healing continues moving forward & you notice little improvements from day to day. I found that I’d have those little daily improvements then one day a lingering symptom would be gone. Sometimes it took a few days for me to notice I hadn’t had the symptom for a while. It was always a nice surprise when that happened.
Thanks for the clarification @Nikkimm
Wow 13th in four years is a lot to deal with
And still have a great sense of humor about it all 
I am also so over it, but still need more work to better decompress
So…eye roll over here as well
For what it’s worth I am proud of you for sticking with it!
I do hope this will be the last one for ya
Did this all happen do to neck injury?
If you don’t mind my asking What other operations were involved before the styloidectomy?
Like most of us, I just have a complicated history. This all started for me with a work injury. I was a health insurance broker for over 20 years, disabled now. I’ve had 3 for TOS, 5 for a spinal cord stimulator, 2 for frozen shoulder, 2 for eagles, and elbow surgery for additional nerve compression there. 
You have definitely had more than your share @Nikkimm , amazing how you still have your sense of humour
That’s quite a surgical history, @Nikkimm! I’ve found I’ve needed surgery for things I’d never in my wildest dreams anticipated. I expect that’s your situation too! I do hope as @mekanX said, that you’ve just had your last one!
Well @Nikkimm that’s quite a bit of work done, I am sorry that you have had to go through all of that.
I am hopeful that there has been resolution with the previous interventions and that it’s just healing from now on
I pray that your swelling resides and your healing begins to ease and erase the symptoms you are going through.
Thank you for sharing
I remember being so scared of going through my first styloidectomy , but after reading so many stories here and seeing so many brave people doing the same thing I felt more at ease and new I just had to let go and let god steer me through
If there is anything I can do to help or support lmk
Best wishes and god bless you