Xiaomei’s eyes have been bulging recently. After going for a checkup, she found that she had hyperthyroidism. However, after the doctor treated her hyperthyroidism with endocrine drugs, her eyes were still bulging after a few months. It made her worry that she would always have to live with a "goldfish eye". Goldfish eyes caused by thyroid eye disease

The most well-known symptom of hyperthyroidism is "goldfish eyes". This eye problem caused by the thyroid gland is also called "Graves' orbiathy". ; But these patients may think that as long as they treat hyperthyroidism, their eyes can recover. Cai Jiezhi, director of the Department of Ocular Orthopedics and Reconstruction at the Department of Ophthalmology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said that in fact, the most troubling thing is that not everyone can recover. The appearance is exactly the same as before the onset of the disease.

Hyperthyroidism may be due to an autoimmune disorder, allowing immune cells to attack the thyroid gland instead, causing symptoms of hyperthyroidism with endocrine disorders. If immune cells also attack the tissues around the eyes, including the muscles and fat around the eyes Cells and eyelids may become inflamed and proliferate, causing the eyes to bulge outward.

Cai Jiezhi said that although the proportion of clinically seen patients with thyroid disease and bulging eyes is serious and will damage vision, only about 3 to 5% can return to the appearance of those who did not have bulging eyes in the past. Less than 50%, if it has not recovered after a period of observation, you can consider treatment or surgical correction. What to do if you have bulging eyes

Cai Jiezhi said that if the eyes are still in the acute inflammation stage and are red, swollen, hot and painful, it is better to treat the inflammatory reaction first. Oral or injected steroids may be used. Some people In more serious cases, low-dose radiation therapy may also be considered. "When you enter the chronic stage, treat the most serious vision problems first. If there are only cosmetic problems, first observe whether they will recover on their own."

Even after treatment of hyperthyroidism , may not necessarily make the eyes better, but treating the problem of hyperthyroidism is still the first step that "must be done first". Cai Zhijie said that smoking will make the eye diseases caused by hyperthyroidism more difficult to treat, so it is necessary to treat hyperthyroidism and quit smoking at the same time. , wait 3 to 6 months before looking at the condition of the eyes and choose the corresponding treatment method.

Eyelid surgery

Eyelid surgery is for patients who only care about appearance. Because it does not actually harm vision, the eyes look convex because the eyelids are retracted upwards, so as long as the eyelids can move upward, The lower cover will naturally look less convex. Clinically, most patients with eye lesions caused by hyperthyroidism fall into this category. Cai Zhijie said that this kind of surgery is less invasive than decompression surgery, and the recovery period is about the same as that of double eyelid surgery, which takes 2 to 3 weeks. Can significantly improve the appearance of protruding eyes.

Decompression surgery

For patients who need orbital decompression surgery, it is mainly due to abnormal proliferation of muscles or fatty tissue in the patient's eye sockets, resulting in bulging eyes. Because the eyes are not closed completely, the cornea will dry out to the point of breaking the skin, and the proliferative tissue may also compress the optic nerve behind the eyeball. Both of the above situations may damage vision. If drug treatment is ineffective, orbital decompression surgery should be considered.

If the patient is mainly suffering from fat hyperplasia, consider removing the fat from the eye socket to reduce pressure. If the patient is mainly suffering from muscle hypertrophy, the bones around the eyes should be broken open so that the crowded tissues can be released to relieve tension. pressure to improve symptoms of bulging eyes or nerve compression. Cai Zhijie said that this type of patients accounts for about 3 to 5% of patients with hyperthyroidism. If the visual damage lasts for too long, the optic nerve atrophies, or the cornea becomes inflamed and scarred, the vision may not be restored.

Muscle surgery

Some patients have hyperthyroidism that causes muscle hypertrophy to become uneven on the left and right or up and down, causing the eyes to be unable to focus simultaneously, resulting in "double vision", that is, seeing one thing as Two, or you will see double overlapping images. This requires muscle surgery to relax the tight muscles and minimize double vision.

Although hyperthyroidism may cause eye diseases, Cai Zhijie said that if you can grasp the golden period of the onset of the disease and seek treatment from a specialized ophthalmologist as early as possible, you can mostly avoid serious visual damage and restore your beauty. appearance, so problems should be treated as early as possible.