Spoke to my vascular surgeon this week, he’s going to take out the styloid and the muscle, to hopefully release my jugular vein, surgery is about six weeks out and his nurse is off sick so I might have to wait a week or two before I know my surgery date, he’s going to do the left side first, hopefully it helps, any advice on before or after surgery tips?
There’s lots of posts on here about what to expect after surgery, & ideas for things to get to help your recovery. If you use the search function it’ll come up with lots, but briefly you’ll need to ice lots after surgery to reduce swelling, so getting ice packs are a good idea. Sleeping propped up will help with that too, so a wedge pillow & maybe a V-shaped pillow as well is a good idea. People often find that opening their mouth wide & chewing can be difficult to start with after surgery, so it’s a good idea to get soft foods, smoothies etc ready too. Recovery does vary, but it’s a good idea to take at least a couple of weeks off work, longer if it’s anything physical if you work. Taking pain meds regularly will keep pain under control, you might want something to help with constipation as some can cause that! Steroids can help with swelling too, but not all doctors prescribe that, you could ask though. B group vitamins are supposed to help with nerve healing, so you could try taking those if it’s okay with any medications you’re on.
Recovery can be quite up & down, & nerves can take months to heal, so don’t be disappointed if you don’t have instant results!
Hope this helps to get you started!
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I just had my surgery two days ago, my styloid was compressing the internal jugular vein and a bunch of cranial facial nerves. Woke up from surgery and noticed almost complete relief, but irritation and swelling from the surgery erased the gains. Doctor said this is temporary, ice packs and baby aspirin will help. In about 2 to 3 weeks is when I should really see the improvements kick in.
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