Info for Patients

Disclaimer: As I get many requests concerning my medical approach, the intention of this page is to pass on my personal experience and knowledge. Please consider that the information are based on my own case. It does not mean that the listed treatments are the best/only way to find a pain relief. No case of illness can be compared to another. Each case is different. I can give no guarantee for the topicality, correctness or completeness of the provided information. It does not substitute professional health care. So please consult a doctor! Or two! Or better four!! 😉

Clarification/Diagnosis of Eagle-Syndrome

If you think you could suffer from Eagle-Syndrome because of different symptoms (unclear throat/head/neck/face/jaw/tongue pain, swallowing difficulties, voice problems or vascular problems like dizziness, brainfog, intracranial hypertension, headaches, fainting ect.), you could ask your doctor to make a CT scan with contrast medium of your head and throat region (CT Angio). Panorama X-Ray would be another option to get a vague impression, but a CT scan is definitely more detailed and advisable. A Department for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery could be a good contact point. (Probably also a Department of Head and Neck Surgery/ Neurosurgery). The first step of getting the right diagnosis is to look what is causing your symptoms. Try to find out, if your styloid process is elongated/abnormally angled or your ligament ossified and probably compressing any nerves/blood vessels/anatomical structures. Note: Also keep in mind that even short styloid bones can cause problems sometimes. It depends on multiple factors.

Please be aware that there exist three different types of Eagle-Syndrome: classic type, vascular (carotid artery type) and vascular (internal jugular vein type). They are also called: Stylohyoid-Syndrome, Stylo-Carotid-Syndrome and Stylo-Jugular-Syndrome.

Here is a free programme to download, with which you can take a look at your CT scans yourself on your own notebook at home: Radiant Viewer

(Note: Informing yourself is an important issue while having a rare disease. Yet, you should discuss the pictures with a medical expert.)

Information on treatments that have already improved my condition (Bilateral Eagle-Syndrome and its secondary complications):

Surgeries/Styloidectomies to remove the long bones from my throat. However, it is a very risky intervention that demands a lot of expertise from the surgeon. It must be well considered, if a surgery is indicated and which approach is better – intraoral or extraoral. Currently it would be better to choose the extraoral/transcervical approach (from the outside). In my case the intraoral approach led to insufficient success, because the bones could not be resected completely due to reduced field of vision during the intervention. It was also necessary to cut my tonils out first (tonsillectomy) in order to reach some part of the bones, which is very painful too. Additionally, I developped a postoperative defect due to postsurgical intraoral scar tissues and the remaining bones in my throat. I had suffered from Eagle-Syndrome Classic Type first, had these two insufficient intraoral surgeries done. Then over the years I developped the 2nd Stylo-Carotid and 3rd Stylo-Jugular Type, which led to carotid artery compression, as well as severe internal jugular vein compression on both sides. Why? Because the rest of my bones that were still in my throat did still compress these important structures and furthermore the scars had grown over my nerves and the Transverse Process of C1 (Atlas). So I had to do extraoral/transcervical revision surgeries, in order to solve my scars and resect the two remaining shortened bones on both sides. These last surgeries were absolutely necessary in my case and successfully done by a specialist from Germany. However, I am not yet painfree and still need lots of therapies for my “healing journey”. The reason for the persistant pain might be the damage I suffered from the first two intraoral surgeries and the long period of experiencing chronic pain, inflammations and physical trauma. Therefore extraoral/transcervical surgeries are more recommendable.

After Surgeries:

Osteopathy
Cranio Sacral Therapy (Upledger)
Sports-Osteopathy by Mag. Kirstin Bauer, Vienna
Specialised (Crafta) Therapy by Isabella Casny, Citypraxis, Vienna
Scar-Therapy by Michaela Liedler, MSc, Vienna
Infusions
Neuraltherapy
Electro-Acupuncture
TCM Tuina Massage
Manual Therapy (craniomandibular, orofacial therapy) by Prof. Dr. Harry von Piekartz, Netherlands
Laser Therapy from Weber Medical, Germany

Laser Therapy: Weber Medical from Germany (Dr. Michael Weber and Robert Weber MSC)

Craniomandibular Orofacial Manual Therapy: Prof. Dr. Harry von Piekartz from the Netherlands

Here is a Guideline for people who think they could be concerned by Eagle-Syndrome:

(I created it without any claim of completeness)

Note: It’s useful to see more medical experts like ENT, especially maxillofacial surgeon, neurosurgeon, head-neck surgeon, dentist, orthodontist, neurologist, ect.

Online Support Groups

Here is a link to a Group for Austrian Eagle-Syndrome Patients that I started on Facebook

Info for Patients

Clarification/Diagnosis of Eagle-Syndrome

Information on treatments that have already improved my condition (Bilateral Eagle-Syndrome and its secondary complications):

Here is a Guideline for people who think they could be concerned by Eagle-Syndrome:

Online Support Groups

List of hospitals/doctors who could probably provide information on Eagle-Syndrome:

My scientific Research at the University of Vienna

I hope it will help you!