I’m sorry for the troubles you’ve had w/ your incision. I think you’re the first person I know of who had a post op hematoma. I hope it reduces quickly, & you do not develop a keloid in that area. Gentle massage w/ the vitamin E oil will stimulate circulation which should also help accelerate healing.
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Sounds horrible, thinking of you, very gentle hugs 
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Hope everyone is doing great! Now, I am 7 weeks after surgery. The incision area seems to be healing well, but I am having headache on the side of the surgery (right above year). Since last 3 weeks the headache is constantly there. Wondering if anyone else had similar experience. I have asked Dr. for a CT scan, just to ensure there is no impact in any other nerve. He suspecting its most likely nerves near Temporal joint, possibly some inflammation near the joint. Let me know if anyone else had similar issue.
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Hi nmdne,
Thank you for posting! I’m so glad your surgery is behind you. It’s not uncommon to have pain for several months after surgery because of the inflammation from the surgery. As the surgical area heals, & the inflammation begins to reduce, pain will start to go away, BUT it can come & go & come & go in a cycle for awhile until it finally disappears or reduces enough it isn’t bothersome. I felt pretty good by 2 months post op but had some nerve pain that took 9-12 months after surgery to fully recover.
My recommendation is to ice your neck & try icing the area above your ear where you get the headaches. If ice makes the pain worse, then try heat or alternate heat & ice. If this doesn’t help, & the pain continues to really bother you, you should ask your doctor for a nerve pain medication. Gabapentin & amitriptyline are two of the most commonly prescribed meds that seem to have helped many of our members. Starting w/ a low dose is good to help prevent side effects. These medications can take several weeks to become effective & sometimes, after a couple of weeks, the dose needs to be increased slightly. An alternative to meds would be a lidocaine patch or cream that might help numb the area while it heals. Just as w/ healing, finding the right nerve pain remedy can be a process.
I’ll pray that you begin to see this headache pain subside so you feel more of the benefit of your surgery soon.
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Glad that your surgery is behind you, & I hope that you soon get rid of this headache…I second Isaiah’s suggestions. Sending you 
Thank you for the prayers!.. My headache seems to be even more prominent, just curious if anyone has similar symptoms during the recovery period… I got the CT scan done last week, but did not receive any reports…hopefully there is no new issue.
As such my incision area does not bother me at all…but I am also getting my eagle syndrome symptoms … here and there… spontaneously… Is it common any one who had surgery. its 9 weeks past my surgery!
Hi nmdne,
I’m sorry those headaches continue to persist. Can you or have you made an appointment for a follow-up visit w/ your doctor to discuss the CT results?
Your headaches could still be caused by healing nerves, but since they are more pronounced now, it would be worthwhile talking to your doctor about prescribing a nerve pain medication (Amitriptyline, Neurontin, or the like) to see if that helps reduce your pain. It can take several weeks for nerve pain meds to work as they need to build up in your system. Also figuring out the right dose can take some time as you want pain relief w/o bad side effects. Getting relief from the pain can also go far toward helping you heal.
As far as feeling other ES symptoms starting up a bit, that can be nerve healing. I had symptoms come & go for 6-9 months after my surgeries. Healing is a very gradual process, but again, if these are really bothersome, a nerve pain medication can make a big difference & allow you to focus on healing rather than on combatting daily pain.
I hope others will share their experiences, too. In the meantime, you can type “post op headache” into the search box, & some posts should come up with info that might be helpful for you. I’ll pray again for your complete healing.
Thanks a lot! Isaiah_*.
I am waiting for the appt next week on my CT results. BTW, how long it took you to feel completely back to normal after the surgery?
I’m glad you have a follow up appt. next week re: your CT. I hope there is nothing to be seen & it’s just time that you need for healing.
It took me about a year after each surgery. My energy returned 2 months post op but I had intermittent nerve pain for about 9 months then it gradually mostly disappeared by 12 months. I do still have some residual pain & low grade symptoms but they are barely noticeable & don’t affect my life in any significant way. I had my surgeries in 2014 & 2015.
Do you mind telling who did your surgery? (Sorry if you mentioned it before…I don’t remember).
I get my ES symptoms every now and then but have more good days with my throat than bad days. I do get headaches when I don’t drink enough water. I noticed I am needing to drink much more water since the surgery. Maybe because of the healing process?
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Good observation, beachlady! Staying very hydrated does help with healing. Keep that water handy (or whatever works best for you - I’m not a fan of plain water so I spike mine w/ an herb tea bag).
I regularly get botox and steroid injections in my jaw and temporalis muscles. The temporalis areas are usually associated with trigeminal nerve. I already have TMJ issues so surgery really kicked it into a huge flair and took awhile to calm down. The patches are a great idea. Ive also gotten topical creams. I started getting light massage 4 weeks after surgery.
Those new flavored vodkas work for me.
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You make me laugh, Snapple!!
Dr. Samji ( Camino ENT group in San Jose)
I’m glad you saw him, nmdne. I had significant first bite syndrome after he did my first surgery. He did offer to Rx nerve pain meds for me which I declined (decided to grit it out). I’m sure he would give you an Rx for nerve pain meds to help you get through this phase of healing. They can help w/ recovery from the standpoint that reducing or eliminating the pain allows your body to focus more on healing & less on trying to deal w/ pain. Often the meds can be taken for a few months then reduced or stopped. Some people do need them for the long-term but usually at a low dose.
Thanks! Isaiah_40_31. Yes he did give me low dose neve pain medicine. He also said to see a neurologist if the pain does not go away in 3-4 weeks! Hoping for the best.
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I hope the medication is helping reduce your symptoms. It can take 6-12 months for nerve healing to occur after ES surgery. I hope you find, as I did, that the pain gradually decreases & finally goes away. By 6 months post op, most of my symptoms were pretty well gone. I don’t think I had anything that was as uncomfy as yours is though.
did doctor Bunnel mention how much of the styloid he left? I have an appointment with him next week. But I read where a couple of y’all said he leaves a small nub. I have vascular compression and my styloid has a very steep angle, and was wondering if I would be enough to help my flow.
but happy you got relief 