Hi everyone,
Following up on my story. Quick recap: Diagnosed with Eagle Syndrome after a long battle (tonsils out 2006, anxiety since 2017), had my left styloid and ligament removed in April 2025. The results were life-changing – brain fog GONE, no more naps, IBS partly gone, hand numbness vanished!
Now: My right-side surgery is scheduled for November 25, 2025, but I’m wrestling with serious doubts. Is it necessary if I have mild symptoms there? T
I’ve attached some images for context:
[Image 1: Pre-op CT Scan (Feb 2025) - Left Side] - Caption:My initial CT showing the elongated styloid (L: 44.2mm)
STILL PRESENT: Low-grade fever (37-37.5°C), mild left trigeminal numbness (improved but lingers).
RIGHT SIDE: Asymptomatic so far (no right-side throat/neck pain like I had on the left pre-op only sensitive TS at the right side of my face), but the styloid is long (42mm) and ligament calcified.
Questions for the Community:
Right-Side Surgery Necessity:
Given my right side is currently asymptomatic, but structurally identical (long styloid + calcified ligament) – was it worth removing your asymptomatic side?
Did preventive removal save you future pain/complications? Any regrets?
Bilateral vs. Staged Recovery:
For those who had staged surgeries (like me): How did recovery from the second sidecompare to the first? Easier? Harder?
Residual Symptoms (Fever & Numbness):
Did anyone have lingering low-grade feverafter their first op that resolved only after the second side was done?
Did trigeminal numbness continue improving slowly over many months?
General Advice for Second Op:
What do you wish you knew before your second surgery? (Pain management, swallowing, exercises, mental prep?)
How long before you felt “back to normal” after the second op?
Why I’m leaning towards doing it: My surgeon performs this as a routine procedure but doesn’t advise on necessity — the decision is mine alone. Still, seeing how removing the left styloid resolved so many ‘unrelated’ issues makes me wonder: Could the right side explain my lingering fever? And if it might cause pain later, I’d rather tackle it now than face another diagnostic nightmare.
Surgery Date:November 25, 2025.
Thank you SO much for any experiences, insights, or encouragement you can share. This forum gave me hope during my diagnostic nightmare, and your stories continue to be invaluable.
Very good questions @SyncTer. We normally suggest not having the second styloid removed if it is asymptomatic.
Argument against: We have had a couple of members who got an asymptomatic second styloid removed “just because it was elongated” & ended up in worse pain afterwards & felt they should have left it alone. We recommend waiting on surgery until the symptoms are bad enough to be affecting your life in a negative way, but you’ve been there & done that already with the other side.
Argument for: Since it’s hard to know for sure if your remaining symptoms will clear up as more time passes or if they’re being caused by your right styloid. If they are being caused your remaining styloid, they are likely to get worse as time passes, like you suggested. Also, since you have a doctor you know is competent to do the surgery, getting it done while he is still in medical practice is a good idea as sometimes doctors themselves get sick &/or retire unexpectedly then you’d need to start over finding another surgeon.
I had bilateral surgery because both sides were causing significant symptoms. My second surgery was easier than my first but it was also a bit less complicated. My third surgery was easiest of all from a recovery standpoint. It took a couple of months before I felt back to a normal energy level after each surgery, but some of my symptoms continued to come & go for 6-12 months after each surgery.
It’s hard to know if your right styloid is contributing to your lingering fever & TN facial numbness. Is the numbness on the right or left side? If on the left, then it’s most likely not coming from the right styloid. Fever would be vagus nerve related. Your vagus could still be healing if the left side was irritating it.
My best suggestion is to wait until closer to your surgery date to see how you’re feeling. Hopefully your symptoms will have either improved or gotten worse by then so you know better whether you should have surgery or if it should be cancelled for the time being.
@SyncTer glad to hear that your first styloidectomy provided so much relief!!
Although you aren’t experiencing any problems on your right side, there are two things to consider. First, given that your right styloid is in fact elongated, it is possible that your body is compensating for it at a structural level (i.e., neck curve, neck rotation limitations, muscle compensations, etc) that it may be indirectly contributing to your global symptoms (e.g., fever) or left-sided symptoms. Another thing - for nerves it’s obvious that if a nerve on the left side of your neck/face is being irritated/compressed, the left side of the body is going to take the hit. However, it’s possible that vascular compression on the right side of the neck could cause left sided symptoms since the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body. This may be the case for only some symptoms. For example, I can see a world in which if someone had IJV compression on the right side and therefore had deoxygenated blood pooling in the right side of the brain, that motor-wise could have some imbalances on the left side of body. This is just me speaking out of theory, but I think it’s possible.
However, if your symptoms are mild at this point and your safety is not threatened, it could be wise to wait to see if things change first. 4 months post-op is a decent time to have healed, but you never know. In my opinion though, if you don’t take care of that right side sooner than later then it could cause scary symptoms out of the blue for you in the future.
Really happy you are in a position to make the choice though - I’m glad you have the surgery date!
I’m glad for you that you’ve seen really good improvements with your first surgery! I had my worst side removed first (I had bilateral IJV compression), & that really helped my vascular symptoms, I felt loads better, so I was in a similar dilemma to you about whether to have the other side removed, as obviously there is a risk of nerve damage with the surgery. I did have a few symptoms which became more apparent on the other side, & still having some IJV compression concerned me, I thought if I had another whiplash injury for example, might the remaining styloid damage the IJV? I thought too I wanted the chance to be as good as I could be, & as surgeons for ES are few & far between (especially where I am in the UK), I decided while I was able to see a really good doctor I would go for it, & I’m glad I did as he is no longer able to do as many ES surgeries. Because of our waiting lists, it did end up a year between surgeries so I was fully healed.
Sorry, I forgot to say that my second surgery was easier than my first, I didn’t have any trouble chewing after surgery, my neck felt freer than after the first one. The only thing I had differently was a really blocked ear- it felt like concrete had been poured down it, which I didn’t have the first time, but it resolved after a couple of weeks!
GONE: Brain fog, daytime sleepiness, IBS (partly), left hand/arm numbness & pain.
STILL PRESENT: Low-grade fever (37-37.5°C), mild left trigeminal numbness (improved but lingers).
RIGHT SIDE: Asymptomatic so far (no right-side throat/neck pain like I had on the left pre-op only sensitive TS at the right side of my face), but the styloid is long (42mm) and ligament calcified.