Thyroid eye disease can range from mild to severe. Some people progress slowly over time. Others may be steady for years. In some cases, severe symptoms of thyroid eye disease can come on suddenly and be a medical emergency. When this happens, it’s critical to call your doctor or go to the emergency room to save your eyesight.
Thankfully, the majority of people with thyroid eye disease experience mild symptoms and don’t have sight-threatening emergencies. You can reduce your risk of complications (including vision loss) with early diagnosis and treatment. Learn more about how thyroid eye disease is treated.
Yuna Rapoport, MD, MPH, is an ophthalmologist at Manhattan Eye.
Jose Escobar, MD, is a board-certified endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital.
References
American Thyroid Association. (n.d.). Graves’ eye disease (Graves’ ophthalmopathy or Graves’ orbitopathy).
Fox, T. J., et al. (2023). Graves orbitopathy. StatPearls.
Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan Health System. (2015). Orbital decompression.
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