What Is Thyroid Eye Disease?

Thyroid Eye Disease is an autoimmune disorder

Thyroid Eye Disease (TED), also known as Graves’ eye disease, is a condition where your immune system mistakenly attacks the muscle and fat tissue behind your eyes. This causes inflammation (redness and swelling) and scar tissue to form.

The inflammation and scar tissue that forms can cause many changes to your eyes, like:

• Eye pain and eye pressure––pain may be felt in, around, or behind the eye including when looking up, down, or sideways
• Itchy eyes––eyes may feel itchy or irritated
• Blurry vision––objects may look out of focus
• For some patients, one of the most obvious external signs of TED is eye bulging, also called "proptosis" (prop-toe-sis) or "exophthalmos" (ek-sof-thal-muhs)

...And more. TED can have an impact on your physical appearance, visual ability, and even your emotional well-being. Learn more about Thyroid Eye Disease symptoms.

6 commonly used terms for Thyroid Eye Disease (TED)

TED is a rare and distinct condition, but is often considered part of a separate condition called Graves’ disease. It’s important to remember that they are different diseases and require different treatments. Although they are separate from one another, TED is often called by different names containing the word Graves’ or thyroid, like:

• Graves’ eye disease
• Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO)
• Graves’ orbitopathy
• Graves’ disease eyes
• Thyroid-associated ophthalmology (TAO)
• Thyroid orbitopathy

If you hear any of these terms, know that they mean Thyroid Eye Disease (TED).

How is Thyroid Eye Disease diagnosed?

TED is rare and catching it early can prevent permanent damage, so it's important you see a doctor who has experience diagnosing/treating it––a TED Specialist.

TED Specialists are often oculoplastic surgeons, neuro-ophthalmologists, as well as select ophthalmologists and endocrinologists that have experience treating TED patients.

The first step in diagnosing Thyroid Eye Disease is to get a baseline eye exam. Your TED Specialist will look for TED symptoms, such as red or watery eyes, eyelids that don’t close properly, or puffy eyelids. A TED Specialist may also request a CT scan or MRI scan to see what is happening behind the eye, which can help diagnose TED.

A TED Specialist may use a tool called an exophthalmometer to measure how far your eyes are bulging, if you have that symptom.

Your TED Specialist will also want to know all about your medical history, like if you have a thyroid condition, if anyone in your family has had thyroid problems, and if you are a smoker.

Are there Thyroid Eye Disease tests?

Blood tests may be performed to measure the levels of certain thyroid hormones and antibodies in your blood that can be related to TED.