Thyroid eye disease (thyroid orbitopathy) affects the soft tissues surrounding the eye, such as muscles and fat.  When you suffer from the condition you will typically experience inflammation around the eye, and this has the effect of making your eyes to be more noticeable and pushed out, and a common symptom is that you will look as though you are staring.

It can also cause a stiffness in the eye muscles which move the eye, and this in turn can then cause you to suffer from a squint and also to possibly develop double vision. There is also the danger with thyroid eye disease that as the eyeball swells out, that it will cause a pressing on the optic nerve that may disrupt your vision. So if you drive it is essential that you alert the relevant driving authorities if you have double vision or any of these other symptoms, as it is illegal to drive when impaired in this way.

Additionally, you may notice that you get dry eyes, which is perhaps the most common symptom with thyroid eye disease, and that eyelid retraction becomes more painful.

Other common names for thyroid eye disease are Graves Eye Disease and Dysthyroid Eye Disease.

The causes of thyroid eye disease are centred around the thyroid gland being overactive, and typically 40% of cases will be when the thyroid is actually being overactive, and 60% in people who may not be currently suffering from an overactive thyroid, but who have had inclinations in that way, or who have been treated for an overactive thyroid in the past. So it seems clear that the condition is linked to your thyroid not functioning at an optimal level.

Simply because you have an overactive thyroid does not mean you will automatically develop thyroid eye disease, and in fact, even amongst  people with an overactive thyroid it is relatively rare, occurring in perhaps only about 2% of cases. Smokers with an overactive thyroid are however at a dramatically higher risk of developing the condition, with 8 times the normal risk.

Here is one good treatment to get your Thyroid back into proper balance >>