Symptoms of Thyroid Eye Disease

Although thyroid eye disease (also known as Grave’s Disease or Thyroid Ophthalmopathy) does not necessarily require treatment, recognising its symptoms and understanding how it can be diagnosed are important so you can reduce the risks of more serious eye damage. Remember almost 10% of cases of thyroid eye disease do not get better and, in fact, get worse without treatment.

Initial Symptoms

If you have thyroid eye disease, you may first notice some mild discomfort in your eye, possibly in one eye more than the other. Some people have described the discomfort as just a mild soreness similar to how it might feel if you’ve rubbed your eye too much. Others describe it as a feeling of grittiness as if something is in your eye that you can’t get out.

In addition to the discomfort, your eyes may go from extremes of being overly watery to being very dry and red. You may also experience greater discomfort when moving your eyes right to left and when looking at bright light or being exposed to wind.

One of the most obvious signs of this condition is the puffiness around the eyes. This is caused by the swelling of the tissue due to the lymphocytes attacking it. The result is that your eyes may look baggy or pushed out slightly from their sockets. In some cases, this can be so pronounced that you may not be able to close your eyelids all the way. Because part of your eye is left exposed, the dryness and irritation can get worse. Your eyelids may also be very puffy, as well.

Additionally, the pressure from the swelling tissue can push against your eye. Not only does this cause the bulging appearance but can also cause you to look as if you are staring wide-eyed at something continually. When the pressure impacts the muscle behind the eye, you may not be able to move your eye from side to side which makes the staring seem worse and which can also lead to problems with double vision.

You may also experience some problems with your vision if the swelling begins to affect the optical nerve connecting the eye to the brain. If vision worsens, medical treatment should be urgetnly sought because your condition could become much worse.

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