Thyroid Eye Disorders

The thyroid is a gland located at the front of the neck that produces hormones to help regulate your metabolism, which transforms food into energy. A small percentage of people have an overactive thyroid that produces more hormones than needed; this is called hyperthyroidism, or Graves’ disease. This thyroid condition can be associated with a number of eye and vision problems, which is why it is important to get the disease under control and be aware of any symptoms that may be affecting your eyes.

Symptoms of Graves’ Disease

Symptoms of Graves’ disease vary according to the person. However, common eye problems related to the condition include:

Treatment for Graves’ Disease

To help reduce these symptoms, our doctors at Virginia Eye Consultants offer both non-surgical and surgical treatment options. When you come in for routine eye exams, your doctor will monitor any changes in your eye protrusion and eyelid retraction by taking a variety of measurements. If you suffer from Graves’ disease, your doctor may recommend one or more of the following treatment options:

couple sleeping in bed

Non-Surgical Treatment

Regularly using ointment or artificial tears can help lubricate dry eyes. If you experience swelling from the eye condition, there are several methods of reducing this: steroid medication, elevating your head while sleeping, radiation treatment, and cool compresses. For those suffering from double vision, specialty eyeglasses with prisms can improve your ability to see correctly.

Surgical Treatment

Should your symptoms be too severe and not respond to non-surgical treatments, you may require surgery to help control the progression of Graves’ disease symptoms. This may include repositioning your eye muscles to reduce double vision, relieve dry eye, correct eyelid retraction, and improve your eye appearance. Additionally, compression on the optic nerve can be lessened when extra space is created in the eye socket.

Contact Virginia Eye Consultants

To learn more about how you can control eye concerns resulting from Graves’ disease, please contact our office to schedule your next appointment.

The doctors at Virginia Eye Consultants have either authored or reviewed the content on this site.

Call

Appointments

Search

Back To Top