Symptoms of thyroiditis

Thyroiditis is a relatively common disease in daily life. This disease will directly lead to damage to the human immune system, so health will be threatened by many pathogens. The thyroid gland is the most important immune organ in the human body and plays a major role in resisting viruses. If thyroiditis occurs, it must be treated as soon as possible to prevent other diseases from taking advantage of the situation. Therefore, everyone should understand the symptoms of thyroiditis.

The symptoms of thyroiditis are easy to identify as long as you pay more attention to your physical condition. Generally speaking, the most common symptoms of thyroiditis are fever all over the body and an obvious lump in the thyroid gland.

1. Hashimoto's thyroiditis

The onset is slow, and when the disease occurs, the thyroid gland is often enlarged, with a hard and tough texture and clear boundaries. Some patients may have compression symptoms. There is often no special feeling in the early stage, and the thyroid function may be normal. A few patients may have transient hyperthyroidism symptoms in the early stage, and most cases have hypothyroidism when they are discovered. Patients often experience symptoms such as fear of cold, edema, fatigue, dry skin, abdominal distension, constipation, irregular menstruation, and decreased libido.

2. Subacute thyroiditis

Typical manifestation is severe pain in the thyroid gland, which usually starts on one side of the thyroid gland and quickly radiates to other parts of the gland, the ear base and the jaw, and is often accompanied by general discomfort, fatigue, muscle pain, and fever. It reaches a peak within 3-4 days after the onset of the disease and subsides within 1 week. There are also many patients with a slow onset, which lasts more than 1-2 weeks. The condition fluctuates and lasts for 3-6 weeks. After improvement, there may be multiple relapses within a few months. The thyroid gland may increase in size by 2-3 times or even larger than normal, and is obviously tender when touched. Within 1 week after the onset of the disease, about half of the patients have manifestations of hyperthyroidism, including excitement, heat intolerance, palpitations, tremors and sweating. These symptoms are caused by the release of excessive thyroid hormones from the thyroid gland during acute inflammation. During the process of disease regression, a small number of patients may experience swelling, constipation, fear of cold, drowsiness and other manifestations of hypothyroidism, but these manifestations do not last long and eventually the thyroid function returns to normal.

3. Quiescent thyroiditis

The thyroid gland enlarges to varying degrees and is painless. There is a self-limited period of hyperthyroidism of several weeks, followed by a transient hypothyroidism due to depletion of thyroid hormone stores, and finally, usually euthyroidism (see below). The hyperthyroid phase may be brief or ignored. The disease is diagnosed when women develop hypothyroidism, which is occasionally permanent.

4. Acute thyroiditis

It is an acute suppurative infection of the thyroid gland. It is caused by a bacterial or fungal infection. Bacteria or fungi spread through the blood circulation, lymphatic channels or adjacent purulent lesions to invade the thyroid gland and cause acute purulent inflammation. Among them, spread from adjacent purulent lesions is the most common, and secondary infection is another possible cause. Acute thyroiditis has a rapid onset, with symptoms including high fever, sweating, and general discomfort. Local lumps appear in the thyroid gland, which are very tender, and local skin becomes red and hot.

This article introduces some symptoms of thyroiditis. I hope you will have a better understanding of thyroiditis after reading it. If you feel any discomfort in your life, you should go to a regular hospital for examination and treatment in time. This is the best way to treat the disease. Do not delay treatment.