Hi guys! Going to my Family Doc soon, what tests should i ask to receive? Not just for the styloid but any other tests just in case the styloid isnt the problem? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Hi. Probably the most popular is a CT Scan of the Head and Neck with and without Contrast. It shows the styloids very well and other anatomy, like arteries (jugalar and more). This can show if the styloids are causing compression, which results in Vascular Eagles Syndrome.
For tests not related to imaging:
I have had many many thousands of dollars worth of blood tests trying to find out what in the heck is wrong with me. Many not typically ordered because I am persistent and am not going to accept Doctors acting like I am a hypochondriac.
I think people should get the ANA test for a differential diagnosis. If you pop positive then it becomes another battle.
I have chronic inflammation. When I look at my 3d pics I have to think how could I not have chronic inflammation with those things banging about when I turn my head. . My inflammation shows up in MMP-9, MMP-2, LDH Isoenzyme,
and CK Isoenzyme. These are not run of the mill tests and are hard to get ordered. The run of the mill tests that Doctors order don’t show my story.
I will say that once I get back my tests that are showing a problem the Doctors don’t know what to do with them but it gives me a gauge as to what I am battling and a marker to watch to see if treatment is working. Those abnormal results could have absolutely nothing to do with my Eagle Syndrome
Do my styloids cause the inflammation or did the inflammation cause my styloids? Who knows but I did have a car accident. Hit straight on at the drivers side sending me to the right but the driver hit me from a stopped position (from a stop sign going into traffic and not watching where he was going ) so lower impact. I did get whiplash. My right styloid is causing all the problems. If I remember correctly I did not wear a seatbelt which obviously would cause a greater problem.
My eye test is where I first learned about MMP-9. They can do a rapid eye test. Styloids can cause eye issues.
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It sounds like you’ve been seen by a few doctors without any diagnosis, so can’t really think of any useful other tests to have done, except maybe an MRI of head & neck if you’ve not had one just to rule out any other neck issues. As @Andy89316 says a CT is the best scan for ES, and given it sounds like you could have some vascular symptoms, then a CT with contrast would be the best one to get. Make sure you ask for the CT to be of the neck, from the base of skull to the hyoid bone, and ask that they evaluate it for ES, measuring the styloids, looking at the thickness and angle, and the distance between the styloids & the C1 processes.
Given that you have seen other doctors, then it might be an idea to just focus on getting the CT, you don’t want your doctor to get distracted or to dismiss ES & look for other conditions without getting ES ruled in or out? Just my personal opinion…
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This is a valid point. My Rheumatology Doctor said often symptoms get dumped on him as the scapegoat since auto immune issues can cause some many different problems with the body’s system. Similar to the way Eagle Syndrome can cause so many different problems.
A neuro PT person said the same thing about how she gets all these Doctors sending people her way for Dizziness blaming it on Vestibular, etc. when it really isn’t that at all.
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