What to do if your thyroid gland is painful

An enlarged thyroid gland is generally what we call goiter, which is caused by drinking water that is not yet boiling. In fact, this is just a rumor. Goiter is mostly caused by thyroid disease. Acute thyroiditis is caused by an upper respiratory tract infection that gradually develops into thyroiditis, causing the thyroid gland to swell and become painful. In addition to this symptom, there are often other symptoms such as fever, fatigue and weakness.

1. You may have subacute thyroiditis, also known as giant cell thyroiditis. It is generally believed that it may be related to viral infection. Most patients have upper respiratory tract infection before the onset of the disease. When mumps is prevalent, it can also cause epidemic thyroiditis. The patient has a rapid onset of the disease, and the main systemic symptoms are fever, night sweats, fatigue, loss of appetite, mild hyperthyroidism symptoms, palpitations, heat intolerance, sweating, tremors and nervousness may appear in the early stage of the disease. The pain in the thyroid area may be severe or dull, and may radiate along the neck to the submandibular, ear roots and occipital area, and may also radiate to the chest and shoulders.

2. A small number of patients may experience headaches, tinnitus, nausea and vomiting. Female patients may experience abnormal menstruation, scanty menstruation, and occasionally symptoms of hypothyroidism during the recovery period. Treatment: mainly using adrenal cortex hormones, suitable for those with persistent fever, fatigue, severe systemic symptoms, obvious thyroid enlargement or significant pain, usually with prednisone. The dose is 30 mg per day, and the whole course is about 1-2 months. Those with hypothyroidism should take thyroid tablets to eliminate symptoms. At the same time, anti-inflammatory analgesics are used for treatment.

3. Goiter is the most common clinical manifestation of thyroid disease. Some thyroid diseases may only cause goiter without other clinical manifestations. Goiter is common in endemic goiter, sporadic goiter, high iodine goiter; goiter caused by benign and malignant thyroid tumors; chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, subacute thyroiditis, painless thyroiditis and other thyroid inflammatory diseases; and goiter caused by hyperthyroidism. Patients with thyroid pain should first determine the degree of their pain. Severe pain is usually caused by various thyroid inflammations, such as acute suppurative thyroiditis and subacute thyroiditis, both of which must be treated in time.

4. Mild pain is not special, because many thyroid diseases may cause this symptom, and it needs to be diagnosed through regular examination, so it is best to seek medical attention in time. When there is local swelling of the thyroid gland and mild pain, you should be alert to the presence of a tumor, but you should be more alert to the fact that most thyroid tumors are not accompanied by pain, and only manifest as local swelling, but local compression symptoms may occur. After being diagnosed with a thyroid tumor, you don't have to be overly nervous.