Been 4 months since my left side surgery, recovery was slow, but I finally have full use of my left shoulder, a lot of my symptoms have improved, no more vertigo, I still have a lot of head compression at night and numbness in my chin which may not go away, Dr Costantino has agreed to do the right side January 20th as you can see by my images left side is fully open, right side sucks butt, the two white blobs on the left turned out to be staples, you can see them better in my dental X-ray, excuse my horrid teeth
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Are those staples left in on purpose? How do you get them out?
Allot of surgeons use staples no big deal, they are there to make sure things don’t slip back to where there not supposed to be, it’s all good
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I don’t know the usual point of care for Eagle Syndrome and staples but I do know that staples left in a body can cause problems.
Plenty of lawsuits over staples. Ethicon, manufacturer, has had a few. One award was 19 million.
If someone who has had this surgery can chime in on staples because I know for sure I don’t want any left in me if at all possible.
I agree, @Millymay, that many surgeons use “surgical” clips to help during & after surgery. I have a clip on each side from my original styloidectomies. They were in my neck for a number of years before I had some sort of scan where they showed up. Without the scan I’d never have known they existed. I’ve had no problem with them.
@JugularEagle - I think the case is more often that people object to finding out the clips have been used w/o the surgeon mentioning that (s)he might place surgical clips, & the idea that they’re in there w/o permission is what drives the law suits more often than someone having an actual reaction to the clips being there. I believe they are titanium which is a pretty inert metal. That’s not to say there aren’t people who react to it though.
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Just as a point of reference in the future titanium staples may cause a reaction such as burning mouth syndrome. If someone develops this after a surgery it could be because of a metal put in their body. Or just as likely a nerve was jangled during surgery.
As one who had a bad reaction to the metal gadolinium when Doctors couldnt comprehend the issue i prefer no metal BUT if they have to use it then i will have to deal with it.
I did see caution about Mri if a craniofacial staple was used because they have a different composition. think it was concerning distortion not that the magnet was going to move the staple.
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Thank you so much for reporting in 4 months later. It’s these types of stories that really help some people make their decisions to go forward. Knowing that you liked your surgeon enough for the second procedure is also a great vote of confidence.
Are you able to share what your primary symptoms were and what’s been resolved? Does Dr. Costantino think the second surgery will resolve your outstanding symptoms?
Good luck with your continued healing!!
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My head pressure has decreased substantially, constant headache is from 3-4 down to 2-3 pain wise, vertigo disappeared but my perception is still a little off, I’m able to walk further and complete more tasks than before but still stuck at home and unable to work, I have a little more energy, usually one surgery is enough to resolve most peoples issues but I guess 10 percent of us are not so lucky, seems like if I’m gonna have something rare I may as well go all out lol, I had compression of the jugulars on both sides, my jugulars being crushed between my transverse process and styloid, I had a huge problem with my blood pressure but that seemed to settle down after my very first surgery when my local surgeon removed a few centimeters of my styloid, obviously this was not enough and I went out of state to get the whole thing removed, my heart rate has been crazy but this may or may not be POTS, so it may resolve after my next surgery or it might remain, sleeping for me is my worst symptom at the moment I sleep for two hours at a time then my head is so full and painful I have to sit up to relieve it, before I can go back to sleep, I am so grateful for sites like this that are full of the information we need to help us work out what we need to do, good luck on your journey
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I’m glad that you have the use of your shoulder back now, & that you’ve found some symptoms have improved, that’s great to hear! Good that you’re getting the other side done, hopefully that will resolve the head pressure … not everyone does, but some of us have found the surgery is much easier for the second side, I don’t know why, but hopefully you will too 
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@Millymay, Are you sleeping with your head elevated at night & still getting the terrible head pressure?
We have quite a number of members who’ve had bilateral IJV compression & who found it took having both sides decompressed to get the best results. Just to say you’re in good company! I, too, hope & will pray your second surgery is the key to you feeling so much better! 
I’ve tried elevated a lot and elevated a little but it’s more the pressure of the pillow on my head causing me the issues, fingers crossed the second surgery helps, thanks for your kind words
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Got it. It’s external pressure that’s making internal head pressure feel worse. Thank you for the explanation.
Hi - Can I ask how you are doing now? How are your headaches? Did you get any relief from surgery?
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Hi I got 50 percent relief from my left side surgery, I just had the right side operated on today, my jugular was completely compressed in fact one of my arteries even made a dent in it, as it had gotten pushed by the styloid on top of the jugular, so now it’s completely decompressed I’m hoping for a lot more relief, but I have a few months of healing ahead of me first, I lol include the images as they are super cool
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I love your pictures, @Millymay! The styloid gives an amazing visual of how gnarly they can look which helps explain the damage they cause when in place. Very amazing pics of your IJV, too! How nice to see it no longer impeded & wide open. I expect you’ll feel tremendously better once you’re healed from the surgery. Thank you for your post especially so soon after surgery!!
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I’m glad that your surgery has gone well, praying that you heal quickly and soon feel the benefits
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Congrats on your surgery. I am scheduled for surgery in April.
Would you be able to explain what Stamford Hospital’s “pre-optimization program” otherwise known as the “POP” clinic means? They said it is some testing, but what testing?
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Absolutely, before any surgery you have to have a pre opp, they take blood, give you an ekg, take a health history and they need to know all your meds, it has to be at least a week or two prior to surgery so that if they find any issues they can fix them, and to make sure you come off any meds that might effect your surgery, hope that helps, it’s best to take a list of meds with you and maybe your health history, past surgeries, diagnosis ect especially if you have a memory like me, my first pre opp at Stamford and I was trying to remember it all completely forgot I had my folder with and it all written down Ugg lol
Good luck with your surgery, your in great hands
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How are you doing @Millymay ?
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Recovery is a slow process, but I’m doing good, little swollen at the moment so allot of my symptoms came back but I’m sure they will disappear with the swelling, shame as I was finally getting 3 hours of sleep at a time, but now I’m back to 1 hour again, and my heart rate was staying low but now it’s all over the place again, pain wise I’m doing great, down to just taking pain meds at night.
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