Thyroid eye disease: treatment options

Thyroid eye disease can be common in people with Graves’ disease or thyroid conditions. The risk is high if you are female, middle-aged, or a smoker. If you notice any vision problems such as blurry or double vision, or watery or dry eyes, then you should contact your healthcare provider to diagnose and treat your eye early to prevent any further damage. Keep reading to know treatment options for Thyroid eye disease.

Treatment

Thyroid eye disease is not curable but with treatment, you can manage its symptoms. First, the doctor usually treats your thyroid disease (if you have it) to prevent further damage. Then, the doctor may use one or more of these treatment options:

  1. Over-the-counter medications: You can buy over-the-counter eye drops to reduce dryness or irritation. You can also use lubricant drops to avoid redness. Your healthcare provider also suggests selenium supplements to improve selenium levels in your blood. A few studies also show that drinking aloe vera juice reduces inflammation in certain cases.
  2. Prescribed medications: Your doctor prescribes anti-inflammatory medication like prednisone and other steroids to reduce your symptoms. However, these medications may cause certain side effects, so discuss the side effects with your healthcare provider before using them. Recently, a new medicine has been approved for thyroid eye disease called teprotumumab.
  3. Lifestyle changes and home remedies: The most essential change you need to make in your lifestyle is to quit smoking (if you do). Smoking increases the risk of developing thyroid eye disease up to 7 times and makes it more inflammatory. Additionally, smoking also decreases the effectiveness of treatment. Other lifestyle changes you can follow are:
  4. Use cool compresses on your eyes.
  5. Wear sunglasses.
  6. When lying down, keep your head higher than your body.
  7. Use a patch on one eye to reduce double vision.
  8. Tap your eyelids when you sleep. Being unable to close your eyes can lead to dryness and corneal ulcers which increase the risk of scars on your eyes and loss of vision.
  9. Keep your thyroid hormone level maintained with the help of treatment and get regular thyroid tests.
  10. Surgery: In case the above-mentioned treatment is not working, surgery is the last resort. These surgeries are performed according to your condition:
  11. Eyelid surgery: If your tight eyelids prevent your eyelids from closing then it can lead to corneal damage. With this surgery, it makes it easier to cover your cornea.
  12. Eye muscle surgery: This surgery is used to move your eye muscles to correct double vision. Sometimes, you may need this surgery more than once.
  13. Orbital decompression surgery: This surgery is used to relieve the pressure on the optic nerve by making the eye socket larger or taking extra tissue away. The surgery also lessens the bulging of the eye which is the reason that this surgery is mostly recommended before the above two surgeries.
  14. Radiation therapy: This therapy is used to treat the inflammation of thyroid eye disease.

The outlook is good for most people with this disease because mild cases resolve on their own, while in more severe cases, a combination of treatments is available to manage the symptoms. However, if you are diagnosed with this disease when over 50 years of age, then the outlook is not good for you.

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.