Thyroid Disorders
Thyroid disorders throw your whole well-being off balance — not just your hormones. You might feel tired all the time or notice differences in your mood. Your body may change in ways you’ve never experienced before.
Even though these changes may feel out of your control, Cleveland Clinic can help you put your hormones back in balance. You can trust our endocrinologists (hormone experts) and other skilled providers for personalized thyroid treatments so you can feel like yourself again.
Why Choose Cleveland Clinic for Thyroid Disorder Care?
Skilled collaborative providers:
At Cleveland Clinic, you’ll have providers across different departments working together to diagnose and treat your thyroid. We’ll support you through your entire journey with compassionate, personalized care. Meet our team.
National recognition:
Cleveland Clinic is a trusted healthcare leader. We're recognized in the U.S. and throughout the world for our expertise and care.
Innovation and research:
Our dedicated healthcare providers are always looking for better treatment for thyroid disorders through research. You’ll have access to the latest therapies through our advanced clinical trials if you qualify and want to participate.
Virtual visits:
We make it easy for you to get the care you need. Many of our healthcare providers offer virtual visits and follow-ups. You'll get attentive, one-on-one care from your provider from the comfort and convenience of home. All you need is a smartphone, tablet or computer.
Thyroid Disorder Diagnosis at Cleveland Clinic
Thyroid disorders happen when your thyroid gland makes either too little or too much thyroid hormone. This can mess with your body’s metabolism, body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate, among other things, causing all sorts of symptoms.
Many of these symptoms can often look like those caused by other issues. That’s why it’s important to get the right diagnosis. Our providers will take time to talk with you about how you’re feeling. Then they’ll do a physical exam and tests to figure out what’s wrong. They’ll use thyroid blood tests and imaging tests, such as a thyroid uptake and scan or ultrasound, to better understand what’s going wrong with your thyroid.
Providers Who Treat Thyroid Disorders
Locations
Our healthcare providers see patients at convenient locations in Ohio, Florida and London.Thyroid Disorder Treatment at Cleveland Clinic
Our specialists treat thyroid disorders in people at all stages of life. Your treatment options depend on the type of thyroid problems you’re having — hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism.
Treatments for hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
Hypothyroidism happens when your thyroid gland doesn’t make enough thyroid hormone, causing your metabolism to slow down. Several conditions may cause hypothyroidism:
- Hashimoto’s disease.
- Thyroiditis.
- Iodine deficiency.
- Genetic irregularities.
- As a side effect to treatments like immunotherapy and medications like amiodarone.
We’ll treat your hypothyroidism using a thyroid replacement medication. This medication gives your body the hormones that your thyroid gland can’t create on its own.
Treatments for hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)
You have hyperthyroidism when your thyroid makes too much thyroid hormone, causing your metabolism to speed up. This overuse of energy may be caused by a variety of things, like:
- Graves’ disease.
- Thyroid nodules (growths).
- Thyroiditis.
- Too much thyroid medication.
- As a side effect to treatments like immunotherapy and medications like amiodarone.
You and your healthcare provider will talk about which treatments will work best for whatever is causing your hyperthyroidism. We may use anti-thyroid drugs and additional supportive medications, to stop your thyroid gland from making too many hormones and to control your heart rate.
We also offer radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy, an oral treatment (taken as a pill) that destroys thyroid cells to stop hormone production. You’ll then take thyroid replacement medication to give you the hormones you need.
Thyroid surgery
We might recommend surgery if you have large thyroid nodules that cause you to have trouble swallowing or breathing. Surgery may also be an option if the medications we prescribed don’t work or if you have thyroid cancer. During thyroid surgery (thyroidectomy), our highly skilled endocrine surgeons remove part or all of your thyroid gland. After surgery, you’ll take thyroid replacement medication to bring your hormone levels back to normal.
Taking the Next Step
While you might have gone your whole life without knowing where your thyroid gland is and what it does, when something goes wrong, this often overlooked gland demands attention. Cleveland Clinic’s healthcare providers can help you figure what’s causing your symptoms and design a personalized treatment plan so you can start feeling better as soon as possible.
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Getting an appointment with Cleveland Clinic’s thyroid disorders experts is easy. We’re here to help you get care.
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