Thank you for your update, @MyStylishStyloid. I’m so sorry your first surgery wasn’t successful, but as you now know, taking 5 mm off an elongated styloid is like almost doing nothing at all. I hope Dr. Sharma will do the transcervical approach through your neck & remove as much of the remaining styloid as possible i.e. cut it as close to the skull base as possible, as that should make a huge difference for you.
It’s tough that you’re also dealing w/ the possible side effects of your C5-7 fusion. Hopefully your miserable symptoms are only being caused by your styloid & those will resolve once it’s properly shortened.
That Dr. Sharma is experienced & able to deal w/ any vascular issues he sees is something you MUST confirm with him prior to your surgery. If you do have vascular compression, especially of the internal jugular vein (IJV), that requires a more specialized surgery, & let me tell you, you don’t want to be his “guinea pig” if he’s never dealt with something like that before. If you don’t have symptoms of IJV compression, then you have nothing to worry about.
Here is a list of possible symptoms of vES which @Jules put together in this post: ES Information: Common Symptoms And Possible Explanations For Them -
*dizziness, (jugular or carotid)
*weakness, or (carotid)
*fainting (syncope) (carotid or jugular)
*TIAs / stroke (carotid)
*Pain the length of the carotid artery, including eye pain (carotid)
*Off-balance/ rocking boat/ drunk feeling (jugular)
*Ear fullness (jugular)
*Head & ear pressure (jugular)
*Brain fog (usually jugular but sometimes carotid)
*Derealisation feelings and more! (usually jugular but sometimes carotid)