Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsOveractive ThyroidGoiterThyroid NoduleThyroiditisThyroid CancerUnderactive ThyroidFrequently Asked QuestionsNext in Thyroid Disease GuideWhat Is Thyroid Disease?
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Overactive Thyroid
Goiter
Thyroid Nodule
Thyroiditis
Thyroid Cancer
Underactive Thyroid
Frequently Asked Questions
Next in Thyroid Disease Guide
The treatment for your thyroid condition depends on the type ofthyroid problemand whether your thyroid is overactive, underactive, enlarged, or is cancerous. Here is an overview of the different treatments provided for thyroid conditions.
Verywell / Emily Roberts
15 Ways to Keep Your Thyroid Healthy
Hyperthyroidism/Graves' Disease Treatments
When your thyroid is acutely or chronically overactive—a condition known ashyperthyroidism—you are producing too much thyroid hormone. Hyperthyroidism is most often due to the autoimmune condition known asGraves’ disease, or in some cases due tothyroid nodulesthat produce excess thyroid hormone or thyroiditis.
All hyperthyroid patients should be initially treated with beta-blockers. Specific treatments for Graves' disease include:
Generally, the approach used for treatment depends on the severity of your condition, whether you can tolerate antithyroid drugs, and if you’re pregnant or planning to get pregnant soon.
Geography is also a factor. In the U.S., RAI was commonly prescribed for Graves’ disease but recently there’s been a shift toward antithyroid drugs.If your hyperthyroidism due to Graves’ disease persists after 6 months, then your healthcare provider may recommend definitive treatment with either radioactive iodine or surgery. Outside of the U.S., antithyroid drug therapy is more likely to be a healthcare provider’s first choice for treatment, and surgery is more widely used, especially for children and women of childbearing age. Most thyroid patients who receive RAI treatment or have surgery eventually end up hypothyroid, and are treated withthyroid hormone replacement drugs.
Some controversial, cutting-edge therapies for treatment include block/replace therapy (BRT)—a combination of thyroid hormone replacement drugs and antithyroid drugs—and a procedure known as thyroidarterial embolization.
Some integrative healthcare providers recommend stress reduction and management approaches like guided meditation, antithyroid dietary and nutritional changes,traditional Chinese medicine, and other holistic approaches to help an overactive thyroid.
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Goiter Treatments
Goiter refers to anenlarged thyroid, which can develop in both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.
Depending on the size and location, if you have a goiter, it may cause a feeling of fullness in your neck, pain, and less commonly, may make it difficult to swallow or breathe.
For a small, symptomatic goiter, healthcare providers typically treat you withthyroid hormone replacement drugs. In some cases, the drugs can slow down or stall the growth of your goiter but are not likely to shrink it.
If your goiter is large, continues to grow despite being on thyroid hormone, bothers you cosmetically, or is interfering with swallowing or breathing, your healthcare provider may recommend radioactive iodine (RAI) to shrink your thyroid, orsurgeryto remove all or part of your thyroid gland.
In the case of a goiter that is due to iodine deficiency, your healthcare provider will likely recommend use of supplemental iodine.
Thyroid Nodule Treatments
The majority of thyroid nodules are benign. Many healthcare providers prefer to monitor patients for small, benign nodules that cause no symptoms.A substantial percentage of the population—some experts suggest the majority of people—have these asymptomatic nodules, and require no further treatment.
If a nodule or multiple nodules are determined to be cancerous, your thyroid is almost alwayssurgically removedall or in part.In the case of malignancy, thyroid cancer treatment protocols are followed based on the type of cancer detected.
In the past, thyroidectomy was performed after afine needle aspiration(FNA) showed indeterminate or inconclusive nodules, but the relatively new Veracyte Afirma Thyroid Analysis process greatly reduces these indeterminate results and prevents unnecessary surgery.
Detailed guidelines on treatment for nodules are featured in theAmerican Association of Clinical Endocrinologists’Medical Guidelines for Clinical Practice for the Diagnosis and Management of Thyroid Nodules.
Thyroiditis Treatment
Thyroiditis refers to an inflammation of your thyroid gland. While autoimmune (Hashimoto’s) thyroiditis is the most common, there are other forms of thyroiditis, including post-partum thyroiditis, De Quervain’s (also called subacute or granulomatous) thyroiditis, and viral thyroiditis, among others.
As noted, in some cases, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is treated withthyroid hormone replacement drugs. For cases of thyroiditis that are painful, healthcare providers typically recommend a pain-reliever with anti-inflammatory properties, such as aspirin,ibuprofen(Advil/Motrin), or naproxen (Aleve).
If the thyroiditis is especially acute, healthcare providers occasionally recommend steroid drugs to reduce inflammation, along with thyroid hormone replacement drugs, to allow the thyroid to rest from its job of hormone production.
On the nutritional front, there is some evidence that supplementing with themineral seleniummay help thyroiditis.
Thyroid Cancer Treatment
There are four different types of thyroid cancer: papillary, follicular, medullary, andanaplastic. The treatments for thyroid cancer are based on the type of cancer, and in some cases, the staging—how far the cancer has spread to other parts of the body—as well as if it’s a new cancer or a recurrent cancer.
Thetreatments for thyroid cancerinclude:
3:15What Patients Should Know About Thyroidectomy
3:15
What Patients Should Know About Thyroidectomy
Hypothyroidism/Hashimoto’s Disease Treatment
Hypothyroidism is a condition where the thyroid is underactive, chemically destroyed, or surgically removed, and therefore unable to produce sufficient levels of thyroid hormone. We’ve left it for last because, to a large extent, most other thyroid treatments–because they involve radioactively ablating or surgically removing the thyroid–often end up with you becoming hypothyroid.
Thyroid hormone replacement drugs replace the missing thyroid hormone in your body. They include the following:
Treatment ofHashimoto’s disease, the autoimmune condition that often results in hypothyroidism, is more controversial. Most mainstream healthcare providers believe that Hashimoto’s requires no treatment, and they only treat withthyroid hormone replacement drugswhen Hashimoto’s has resulted in hypothyroidism.
Some research also suggests that treating someone with Hashimoto’s who otherwise has normal blood tests, including anormal TSHlevel, may help prevent elevation of the TSH level and progression to full hypothyroidism. Treating Hashimoto’s when the TSH is normal is controversial, however.
Two promising new areas for Hashimoto’s treatment include the use of the drug low dose naltrexone (LDN) and autologous stem cell transplants. Both treatments may help lower antibodies and achieve remission in some patients.
On the integrative medicine front, some holistic healthcare providers recommendiodine supplementation, othernutritional supplements, dietary changes, particular yoga poses, mind-body medicine, and other complementary approaches to help the thyroid.
Other integrative treatment approaches include:
Frequently Asked QuestionsNatural treatmentswon’t cure thyroid disease, but some methods can help you manage symptoms and reduce inflammation. Avoiding foods withgoitrogens(substances that interfere with thyroid function) and increasing vitaminB-12,zinc,selenium, andiodinemay help. Also, the herbal supplement ashwagandha may be beneficial if you have subclinical hypothyroidism, but talk with your healthcare provider before trying it.Tepezza(teprotumumab) is an injectable drug that can reduce problems related tothyroid eye disease.Surgery to remove bone in order to give the eye more room may also be required in some cases. For less-severe symptoms, eye drops and corticosteroids may be enough to provide relief.Desiccated thyroid extract, medication made from the dried and powdered thyroid of an animal (usually a pig), is sometimes used to treat hypothyroidism.It is prescribed less often than levothyroxine, a synthetic form of T4, but is still preferred for certain types of hypothyroidism. Both treatments require you to be on medication for life and will not cure your thyroid disease.
Natural treatmentswon’t cure thyroid disease, but some methods can help you manage symptoms and reduce inflammation. Avoiding foods withgoitrogens(substances that interfere with thyroid function) and increasing vitaminB-12,zinc,selenium, andiodinemay help. Also, the herbal supplement ashwagandha may be beneficial if you have subclinical hypothyroidism, but talk with your healthcare provider before trying it.
Tepezza(teprotumumab) is an injectable drug that can reduce problems related tothyroid eye disease.Surgery to remove bone in order to give the eye more room may also be required in some cases. For less-severe symptoms, eye drops and corticosteroids may be enough to provide relief.
Desiccated thyroid extract, medication made from the dried and powdered thyroid of an animal (usually a pig), is sometimes used to treat hypothyroidism.It is prescribed less often than levothyroxine, a synthetic form of T4, but is still preferred for certain types of hypothyroidism. Both treatments require you to be on medication for life and will not cure your thyroid disease.
12 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Thyroid Association.Graves' disease
Kotwal A, Stan M.Current and Future Treatments for Graves' Disease and Graves' Ophthalmopathy. Horm Metab Res. 2018;50(12):871-886. doi: +10.1055/a-0739-8134
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Thyroid nodules: when to worry.
Ozderya A, Aydin K, Gokkaya N, Temizkan S.PERCUTANEOUS ETHANOL INJECTION FOR BENIGN CYSTIC AND MIXED THYROID NODULES. Endocr Pract. 2018;24(6):548-555. doi:10.4158/EP-2018-0013
American Thyroid Association.Thyroid Nodules
American Thyroid Association.Thyroiditis
American Thyroid Associatio.Hypothyroidism (Underactive)
American Thyroid Association.Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (Lymphocytic Thyroiditis)
Sharma AK, Basu I, Singh S.Efficacy and safety of ashwagandha root extract in subclinical hypothyroid patients: a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial.J Altern Complement Med. 2018;24(3):243-248. doi:10.1089/acm.2017.0183
American Academy of Ophthalmology.New drug treats thyroid eye disease without surgery.
Hoang TD, Olsen CH, Mai VQ, Clyde PW, Shakir MK.Desiccated thyroid extract compared with levothyroxine in the treatment of hypothyroidism: a randomized, double-blind, crossover study.J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013;98(5):1982-90. doi:10.1210/jc.2012-4107
Wells S, Asa S, Dralle H, et al.Revised American Thyroid Association Guidelines for the Management of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.Thyroid. Volume 25, Number 6, 2015. doi: 10.1089/thy.2014.0335
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