hyoid bone problems

[shell k]

History of my problem: For as long as I can remember, I have had a problem with my hyoid bone popping out and causing excrutiating pain. It is always the same - the right side of my neck. At about the age of 8 I talked to my pediatrician about it and he promptly told me it was not possible. That I was having anything "pop out" in my neck. He contended that there wasn't anything there that could pop out. So I just continued to push it back into place whenever it popped out. Back then, it was very easy to push back and only lasted a few seconds until I got it back. About 3 years ago, I noticed that this was happening more and more frequently (used to be about 2-3 times per year) Now it was happening about every month and was much harder to push back. Sometimes taking 20 or more minutes. During that time, it was extremely painful to swallow or talk. After I would finally get it pushed back into place, the pain would go away, but my whole neck would be sore up to my ear and through my jaw. It felt bruised, but no visible bruising on the outside. Over the next couple of years, this problem continued to get worse, happening weekly with some minor "slippage" on a daily basis.  Throughout my life, I have talked to various family practice doctors about this problem. They all contended that it must just be a "lump in my throad" like when you get emotional. Or maybe it's just excess head conjestion. Or maybe it's just a muscle spasm. Or maybe I'm just imagining it. Whatever the case, no one had ever heard of anything like it and no one ever took me seriously. So, I started researching on my own. I could not find anything that sounded like what I had. I posted questions to "Ask and Expert" all over the web. I did get some respones. all of which started with "wow, that is interesting. Never heard of anything like that before." One physician directed me to find a good ENT. So, I did. He took me seriously. He ran tests - CT scans, swallowing x-rays, blood work, etc. I saw a speech pathologist and everything. The swallowing x-rays showed that my hyoid bone did not more in unison. It appeared that the hyoid, which I'm told forms in the womb from 3 point of origin and then fuses into a solid bone before birth, had never fused into the solid bone at all. The ENT that ran the tests did not feel qualified to handle this case, so he referred me to a colleague who does a lot of throat cancer surgery and work around the hyoid bone. He reviewed the tests and theorized that if we removed the portion of the hyoid that was not firmly attached to the rest of the bone, it should solve the problem. I ran this thought process past the head of Otolaryngology at the Mayo Clinic, who had also never heard of such a problem, and he concurred that this theory did make sense. However, there were no guarantees due to the fact that no one had ever seen or heard of anything like it before. So, I went ahead with the surgery on 10/26/06. It seemed to go well. For 3 months, I had no problems. Then on 1/23/07, it popped again, just like it had always done. I immediately went back to the surgeon who is completely at a loss of what to do. His only recommendation is to do more surgery and remove more of the hyoid bone. However, the more they take out the greater the risk of swallowing issues post-surgery. I'm not sure I'm ready to sign up for that again just yet. Since the 1/23 incident, it has happened 3 more times with the last time being only 2 weeks from the previous episode. I'm worried that this is going to continue to get worse again. If it were only going to happen a couple of times a year, I would just deal with it like I have my whole life. But if it gets back to being almost every day, I can't imagine having to continue to deal with that for the rest of my life. As long as the bone is in place, I have no problems. No swallowing problems, no pain, nothing. I just never know when it's going to pop. I do a lot of public speaking and presentations. My greatest fear is that it will happen in front of an audience. The pain is so sudden and intense that I immediatley burst into tears. This is the main reason I have been pursuing this issues to begin with. Any suggestions? I saw in your archives that a person with the nick name of "creyn" described a similar condition back on 11/22/2004 on this web site. Did anyone ever help her? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[scottiek]

I dont believe I was, Im sure I would have heard something about it if I was. With the articles and files on the net I have read nothing has pointed to predevelopment or being a premature baby. My case came from a 200lb soccer player stomping on my neck face and hip repeatidely. Ive read about coughing and vomitting and from severe wiplash in a car accident. thats all Ive read about but Im no expect and havent dealt with this problem as long and some of the others have here.

[wildblue98]

Key words  Hyoid bone - Prenatal development

I think you might be on to something maybe being premature predisposes someone to problems of the hyoid bone later on in life.

Summary  Investigations on the human hyoid bone in several developmental stages reveal that with the chondrification of the mesenchymal blastema a typical interzone between the body and the greater cornua is formed. This disc of closely packed blastemal cells, distinct and broad in the earlier stages, is reduced in thickness in the course of further development. In fetuses between 5 and 6 months old and in newborns the formation of joint cavities can be seen in some cases. In other cases, however, a small transverse line of cells persists between the two cartilaginous elements. These findings are interpreted as different developmental stages of a diarthrosis generally formed between the corpus and the cornu majus. The fact that in the adult the lesser horn is connected directly to the cornu majus and not to the body is confirmed by the embryological investigations reported in this study.

[wildblue98]

so was my twin and he has a similar hyoid problem

[wildblue98]

I was premature about 8 weeks

[miskatonic]

could everyone with this problem comment as to whether or not they were a premature baby?

For the record, I was, about 5 weeks.

[wildblue98]

Dont worry, I doubt you damaged your laryngeal nerve from yawning hyoid bone problems can definitely cause problems speaking I have pressure on the left side of my throat where the displaced hyoid is and it puts so much pressure on my throat to speak for long periods it can just be inflammation in the area or the greater cornua pushing in on the throat because it has changed position. You are not going crazy there is something structurally wrong with your hyoid it sounds like this is causing you these symptoms. Miskatonic I have read several accounts of hyoid bone fractures and problems being caused by vomiting, batlife your patient history also matches up with a hyoid bone injury. I would seek the treatment and methods that have been suggested and listed on this board. Problems in this region will drive you crazy. poke poke poke