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!

[miskatonic]

come to think of it, I did have a hard, hard vomit session shortly leading up to this, too.

On the other hand, I had a much harder vomit session a few years prior when I got food poisoning, and, no problems.

[batlife]

Thanks for your response.. I think this trauma was the reason why i became hypothyroid.. i read somewhere that trauma can cause hashimoto's.. Im having trouble socially because of this mess.. I cant seem to be like my old self.. im real talkative, now its hard to talk, i speak from one side of the mouth.. is it possible that i also injured my laryngeal nerve.. because i cnt sing at all .. one ENT said my throat was swollen n gave me ibiprofen.. this is gettin the best of me.. it has caused me to isolate myself, forcing my mom to put me in 2 mental hospitals.. n no1 believes me.. this *****.. no1 understands

[wildblue98]

I can see that in the case of a real trauamatic injury, it might just never heal properly, but failing a traumatic injury or a morphological difference on one side vs the other, it seems like there might be another possibility of some kind.

Most people in this site have not had really traumatic injuries I can tell you somebody who coughed hard or vomited could be more disabled than someone in a terrible car wreck you cant really stereotype injuries like this into one category. Many cases have no apparent cause and can be extremely bothersome. It looks like this problem can be caused by opening your mouth too wide and suddenly, batlife and miskatonic you both share this in common as the onset of your injury. This I highly doubt is a coincidence as opening the mouth too suddenly or widely can strain that area of the hyoid. Short of hoping for it to heal and go away through physio and conservative treatments the only thing I found that exists is excision of that tip of the cornu, its unfortunate, but sometimes removing something is the best option especially if it has been plagueing for years.

[batlife]

OMG.. i know exactly how u feel.. 5months ago while yawning i felt tht stabbing sensation.. Like i tore something in my throat.. Ever since then ive had the clicking sensation.. Now when i feel strong feelings i cnt yell.. it all seems mechanical.. like its not me tlking.. icnt sing like iused to.. i cnt yell .. i have also become an introvert... i skipped this semester of college tryna solve this.. please respond.. im lost with this mess

the other day while whike getting my haircut my barber askedme a question.. i jus ignored it..i knoe it was directed towards me.. but my voice jus doesnt come out sometimes

- also sometimes i speak out of the right side of my mouth

[miskatonic]

if the hyoid being _higher_ is the real problem though, it seems like there may be some (as yet undiscovered) way of lowering it short of just excising the whole darn thing? after all, it's held in place by muscle and tendon, both of which are fairly elastic and subject to change over time. I can see that in the case of a real trauamatic injury, it might just never heal properly, but failing a traumatic injury or a morphological difference on one side vs the other, it seems like there might be another possibility of some kind.

sure sick of thinking of this. poke poke poke poke.

[wildblue98]

On the left, my dot is a good 1 centimeter higher. This sort of implies to me that the lump i feel in my throat literally is the top of the greater cornu on that side, and i feel it unilaterally because it's only mis-elevated on that side.

I totally agree with this I think the lump feeling is from the top of the greater cornu I can feel the mis-elevation with my fingers and my hyoid feels totally abnormaly curved like the lady in the pictures I posted who also marked dots with a sharpie on her neck. Did you see that photo, reminded me of you. poke poke poke 24/7