Do you have thyroid disease and are experiencing dryness or double vision? If yes, then you may have developed thyroid eye disease. Thyroiditis is a condition where your immune system attacks your own organs, like eyes by mistakenly taking them as a foreign invader. While mild cases get well on their own there is no cure for severe cases. Only with treatment can you manage your symptoms. Learn more in detail about thyroid eye disease in this article.
Causes
Thyroid eye disease is caused when your body’s immune system mistakenly takes your eyes as a foreign invader and attacks your eye cells, muscles, and other tissue in or around the eye. Most people get this when they have hyperthyroidism, a condition when people’s thyroid glands produce too much thyroid hormone. However, people also get this when they have hypothyroidism or rarely in the case of normal thyroid levels. Still, there are cases when the cause is unknown.
Risk factors
Around 50% of people with Graves’ disease are at high risk of developing thyroid eye disease. However, it is also seen in people whose conditions are not linked to thyroid dysfunction. These people are females, middle-aged people, or smokers. In some cases, people who are diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease also develop this condition. However, most people with thyroid disorders do not develop thyroid eye disease. However, if you smoke, it can worsen your symptoms.
Symptoms
The early symptoms of eye thyroid disease may include:
- Excessively watery eyes
- Bloodshot eyes
- Itching or dry eyes which make it difficult to use contact lenses
- Light sensitivity
- Double vision
- Pain when you move your eyes too fast
- Swelling around the eyes leads to exophthalmos which makes people feel wide-eyed or bulging, protuberant stares.
Thyroid eye disease also causes inflammation and swelling around the eyes, muscles, and other tissues. As the disease progresses, you may develop symptoms such as:
- Increased sensitivity to light
- Impaired vision
- Difficulty moving or closing the eyes.
Your symptoms can vary depending on the severity of the disease and then it can go into a remission period which lies somewhere between 6 months to 2 years. If it has been inactive for 6 months, it may be less likely to occur again.
Diagnosis
For diagnosis, the doctor checks your symptoms along with the possibility of thyroid disease. They perform a physical exam to look for swelling and enlargement of eye muscles and go through your medical history. Your doctor may order imaging tests such as a CT scan or MRI to examine eye sockets and muscles for swelling of tissues behind the eye. They also measure the amount of bulging in the eye you experience and how clearly you see, how far you can look, and color vision.
In case you do not have any issue with your thyroid, then a simple blood test is used to check your thyroid levels. If you have hyperthyroidism and start experiencing symptoms involving your eyes, you should need to take a full eye exam with an eye specialist.
If you notice thyroid symptoms, then come to us; our endocrinologists will diagnose your condition and treat it accordingly so that you can live a better life. Visit our endocrinology clinic in Brooklyn for professional help. Call us on +1-347-384-5690 and get answers to all your queries. Log on to www.doralhw.org or visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212 to book an appointment with our endocrinologist to get the best treatment. We have the best endocrinologists who treat these kinds of diseases and helpful staff to aid you during your treatment.
