Was diagnosed with eagles 30 years ago but I left it alone for 15 years till the pain got out of hand. Had surgery to remove the styloid in 2011.
Went great no issue and the pain was gone. About a year ago I started having pain again but more on the neck and I noticed my hearing and voice changing. The something in my throat seemed to return as well. Had X-rays then a ct scan which showed the return of eagle syndrome. I struggling to find anyone who’s had it twice and it’s not the bone grown back it’s a calcified ligament that’s causing my issue.
Welcome to our forum @Scott1! You had your ES surgery the year this forum was started! I’m sorry your symptoms have returned, & you now have a calcified stylohyoid ligament causing troubles.
We’ve had members over the years who’ve had styloid regrowth. This has usually occurred when not enough styloid was removed i.e. the tip was clipped off or the styloids were only shortened to normal length. It has since been found that having an elongated styloid resected as close to the skull base as possible & removing the stylohyoid ligament as well are the keys to preventing regrowth or re-calcification. The most experienced doctors do try to remove the styloids to w/in 0.5 - 1 cm of the skull base now and a few cut it off even closer than that if possible. The challenge of a skull base removal is that the facial nerve exits the skull very close to the point where the styloid is attached, thus not injuring that nerve is the limiting factor in a true skull base resection.
You can use the magnifying glass icon in the upper right of this page to search for posts about styloid regrowth. Just use the word “regrowth” for your search term & posts where that is discussed will come up.
Dr. Hackman in Chapel Hill, NC, is one of the more experienced ES surgeons on our Doctors List. He would be a good doctor to have a consult with about your current situation.
•Dr. Trevor Hackman, UNC Ear, Nose and Throat Oncology Clinic – in the N.C. Cancer Hospital, 101 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, (984) 974-6484
It is more common for the styloid process to grow back, but two of the causes of ES are tonsillectomy and neck trauma- it’s thought that the inflammation can cause the body to lay down calcification, so I guess it’s possible that after your first surgery this is what your body has done. There are other causes though, like metabolic disorders, some people have calcifications in other areas… And we’ve also had some members who’ve not had enough of their styloid processes removed, and this has caused re-growth, also some whose doctors have detached the ligaments leaving calcified sections still there.
Dr Hackman would be a good bet as your original surgeon isn’t doing surgery any more…