@carolinedoubt Welcome to Connect I see your a new member. Eagles syndrome is very rare. Were you told you had to have surgery? Or was that just an option?
My son is still leaving that out there as an option.

We were told by 2 different dr's to only do the surgery if absolutely necessary. Which means if it is life threatening or blocking your throat from food going down. Then it would to be done.. Cause the surgery can really mess up your face.

We also sought out 2 different DR's in 2 different states that had the most practice with this kind of surgery. One a Dr at Uf Strands Hospital in Gainesville, Fl and the other Dr was in Columbus, Ohio. The Dr in Columbus actually was a Medical Professor who trained other Dr. about Eagle's syndrome.

Surgery should be your very last resort. My son was 28 when he was diagnosed. It took several years to even figure out what he had. It has been 5 yrs. It bothers him on and off.

You really need to think about whether, or not you really need the surgery? Or can it be treated another way? Most DR's have done very few surgeries. So the room for error is high I think? They better really know the facial nerves and muscles cause one wrong cut could be seriously damaging.

This site Living with Eagle's Syndrome lists some Dr's that have treated patients. I told my son we would need to see them all on the list to figure out which one we could trust. Case the two we met both said to make the surgery the last resort for treatment.

This Dr list is 3 years old on this site.
https://www.livingwitheagle.org/t/4-10-15-updated-doctor-lists/774/41
If I can help you in any other way please feel free to contact me. Maybe we both can follow each others symptoms to help ourselves?

I wish you the best.
Jackie