Hi, new here. For the last 2 years ive been having dizzines, visual problems, fluctuating ear pressure on the right side, random tinnitus, and lightheadedness. Ive been to a neurologist, cardiologist, and cervical doc. Everyone says im fine. But i noticed in an xray (ordered by cervical doc) that i can see a little spike coming down toward the atlas. Not sure if its the styloid process, and not sure if its long enough to cause any issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I have your symptoms plus more. You could take some pics from this site to your cervical Doctor at your next appointment and say you want to make sure this isn’t an issue. A poster here notated mine from a CTA showing the trapped jugular between C1 and the styloid. You could print it out.
Just so you can compare, a neurovascular surgeon AND an ENT did not recognize the problem after looking at my CTA images. It is the neuroradiologist who indicated the problem in a report. I am still in the medical battle.
@Invadergrim - Welcome to our forum! That does look like your styloid, & it looks longer than normal. With your symptoms, it’s possible the styloid is squashing your IJV against your C1 vertebra which is the most common scenario causing IJV compression & the symptoms you have.
@JugularEagle made a good suggestion. Many of our members have posted their images. Here’s a picture of one of JugularEagle’s where you can see how tiny the IJV is between the styloid & C1:
@Isaiah_40_31 Thank you for your reply, i have a feeling that could be it too. I just messaged my cervical doc and showed her the same image. She said it looks normal . I just hope its not her pride saying that because she didnt catch it herself. What doctors specialize in these problems?
@JugularEagle thank you, its a relief to hear that others have the same experience. It makes me feel like im not losing my mind.
Your first stop is the ENT. However, since you are in the State of Arizona you are lucky that is home to Dr. Peter Nakaji. Search his name here and see what posters have to say about their experience with him.
there are excellent people here who can help. More importantly, after you read some of the stories you will know you aren’t the only one that is going through a range of issues and feelings with this Syndrome. I use Brian Burkheiser, Singer, as an example. It mentally broke him down. Then he came across Dr. Osborne.
You will probably have to jump through some hoops before you get to Nakaji but you are on the way.
I agree with the others that it looks like the styloid & could be long enough to cause issues (although it’s not just the length but the angle & the width too, & the distance between the styloid process & C1 process as the others said). Well done spotting that on your x-ray! Sadly so many doctors and radiologists are still very ignorant or outright disbelieving about ES, so not surprising that your doctor didn’t think it was an issue…
I had bilateral IJV compression & had dizziness, off-balance feeling all the time, head & ear pressure etc. It eased after my first side was removed. I hope that you can get to see Dr Nakaji!
. I just hope its not her pride saying that because she didnt catch it herself. What doctors specialize in these problems?