Mike,
You again, amazed me. I looked it up, never heard of it. But, think about it...... We are so complexed this is possibility for you. Thank you for posting this, I had it look it up. Some of the symptoms seem very familiar. I hope your doctors can get you diagnosed very soon. Hope you and the girls have a great weekend.
For those not sure what it is,
Eagle syndrome or styloid–carotid artery syndrome[1] is a rare condition where an elongated temporal styloid process (more than 30mm) is in conflict with the adjacent anatomical structures.
Two forms of eagle syndrome exists: The classic form and the vascular one
Symptoms
Patients with this syndrome tend to be between 30 and 50 years of age but it has been recorded in teenagers and in patients > 75 years old. It is more common in women with a male:female ratio ~ 1:2.
Patients with the classic "Eagle Syndrome" can present with unilateral sore throat, dysphagia, tinnitus, unilateral facial and neck pain, and otalgia.
In patients with the vascular form of "Eagle syndrome", the elongated styloid process is in contact with the extracranial internal carotid artery. This can cause a compression (while turning the head) or a dissection of the carotid artery causing a transient ischemic event or a stroke.
Given its anatomical position, Eagle Syndrome can elicit a wide variety of symptoms (patients may present with one, several or most of these conditions). Many of these symptoms are so general as to compel a careful differential diagnosis:
Wake up with mild to medium headaches most every morning • Migraines 3-4 times a week. • Throbbing Headache in base of neck up into skull and eye area. • Rest of neck and face throb. • Most days head and neck pain. • Discomfort from base of skull to ears. • Leaving head in flexed, down or rear position for too long may trigger a headache. • Nerve pain running down the neck shoulder and left arm to elbow, little and ring finger, numbness, tingling, achiness, and occasionally swelling. • Feeling of something catching on or behind something in neck. • Frequently discomfort may occur during yawning, stretching, and turning head. (This may cause severe pain. Severe burning pain in neck causes throat to spasm, from ear to mid neck.) • Feeling of hurt in back of throat. • Sore bruised throat, often upon waking. • Voice hoarseness, frequently daily. • Throbbing jaw, neck, face, palate and eyes, vision throbs, but with no pain. • Hot burning feeling base of inner ears. • Hear ringing/ buzzing/ blood rushing in ears. • Occasional Vertigo, room spinning, • LPR reflux. • Burning lungs, asthma like symptoms, coughing, hoarse voice and phlegm. • Difficult starting to swallow at times, getting food to go down, frequent choking. • Feels like something is protruding in right side of throat. • Food will sometimes get stuck in back of throat, or get in nasal/sinus when coughing. • Pain during opening mouth wide, yawning. • Frequent throat clearing. • Shooting eye pain, top inside corner of left eye. • Turning and flexing head and neck; limited range of motion in neck. Patient tends to turn from shoulders and waist.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is suspected when a patient presents with the symptoms of the classic form of "eagle syndrome" e.g. unilateral neck pain, sore throat or tinnitus. On the exam, one can sometimes palpate the tip of the styloid process in the back of the throat. The diagnosis of the vascular type is more difficult and requires an expert opinion. One should have a high level of suspicion when neurological symptoms occurs upon head rotation. Symptoms tend to be worsened on bimanual palpation of the styloid through the tonsillar bed. They may be relieved by infiltration of lidocaine into the tonsillar bed. Because of the proximity of several large vascular structures in this area this procedure should not be considered to be risk free.
Imaging is important and is diagnostic. Visualizing the styloid process on a CT scan with 3D reconstruction is the suggested imaging technique.[2] The enlarged styloid may be visible on an orthopantogram or a lateral soft tissue X ray of the neck.
It is worth noting that the styloid may be enlarged (>30 millimeters in length) in 4% of the population and only a small minority (~4%) of people with enlarged styloids have symptoms.
Treatment
In both the classic and vascular form, the treatment is surgical.[3] A partial styloidectomy is the preferred approach. Repair of a damaged carotid artery is essential in order prevent further neurological complications.