I have been lucky or unlucky, whichever one likes, to have not had any symptoms of Eagle Syndrome until my 70’s. It was September 2025; I was having problems with my sinuses plus a persistence earache. The GP (family practice) referred me to a local ENT for both problems. When the ENT finally (Medicare patients have a low priority in the United States) got around to seeing me, he had a scan conducted of my sinuses. It was determined that I would have surgery to resolve congestion. When I asked him about my ear, this ENT just shrugged. Sinus surgery went will, but my ear continued to hurt. In December 2025 it was time for my annual Medicare check-up with the GP. During the exam I again mentioned my ear continued hurting. We concluded maybe it was a dental problem. Early January 2026 was a visit to my dentist. The dentist referred me to an Endodontic. I had a number of dental scans. The endodontic said I did not need a root canal. I left her office thinking I would have to learn to live with a persistent earache. An hour later she called me and stated “you have Eagle Syndrome” and total me what it is. I thanked her, and began researching Eagle Syndrome. I referred myself to a new group of ENT physicians. Told him what the Endodontic said. He ordered a scan and said he would call once he read the scan. The Doctor contacted me on February 13, 2026 (Friday the 13th, how ironic) and notified me I officially had Eagle Syndrome. According to the ENT, I have both an elongated styloid process and calcified stylohyoid ligament.
I have been doing much research; I would like to know if this is hereditary. I know that in the 1930’s my father had a small bone removed from behind his ear. I remember asking him why and he said it was due to his sniffing. I always thought this excuse was loony but his father (my grandfather) was an ENT. Did they threat Eagle’s this way? Was this the treatment for Eagle’s Syndrome before they knew what it was?
I guess it’s good that you’ve avoided having symptoms til your 70s like you say…
I don’t think that there’s any research showing ES is hereditary, but I might be wrong, we do have a very long list of relevant research papers now, but we have seen members who have other family with the condition so there likely is a link. Now that there’s AI to help the public look into symptoms, we’re finding more and more people are diagnosing themselves and then getting this confirmed with a doctor, and we’re seeing several of our members look into whether their children have this as well. It’s interesting that your father possibly had his styloid process removed; ES was discovered and named in 1937 by a Dr Eagle, but I don’t know whether the surgery was done much then. Very interesting, maybe your father was one of the first to have the surgery?!
Are you considering having surgery yourself, are your symptoms impacting your quality of life? If so does the ENT who diagnosed you do surgery or will you look at getting an opinion from a doctor on our list?
@Jim37174 - Welcome to our forum. I want to applaud you for continuing to advocate for yourself re: your ear pain as that finally led to a plausible diagnosis for you. I’m sorry you went through some surgeries that may or may not have been needed before your diagnosis (ES can cause significant sinus & dental symptoms). I’m really glad the Endodontist you saw is familiar with ES & was able to diagnose you so you could start moving forward with what to do next.
When I was diagnosed, the ENT told me I had calcification of my stylohyoid ligament. He didn’t say anything about an elongated styloid process. The terminology surrounding calcification that causes ES is a bit muddled as some doctors talk about styloid process elongation whereas others refer to it as stylohyoid ligament calcification. I think in some cases, the styloids actually elongate apart from the stylohyoid ligaments calcifying, but in others, it is the calcification of the stylohyoid ligaments that cause the styloids to elongate.
Some things that have been put forth as causing ES are head/neck injuries (whiplash, playing sports, strangulation, etc), ligament laxity in the neck from various syndromes (hypermobile EDS is one), misalignment of the jaw joints (causing clenching or grinding of the teeth when sleeping or stressed, or a chronically “off” bite), changes in the alignment of the jaw joints such as occurs when teeth are straightened by braces, hormone imbalance (often related to parathyroid dysfunction), & heredity. I also wondered if my father had ES as he had some symptoms late in his life that could have pointed to it. I didn’t recognize their significance until after he’d passed away though so whether he did or not shall remain a mystery.