Thyroiditis
Acute or infectious thyroiditis
Acute or infectious thyroiditis is usually triggered by a bacterial infection. It is rare and is associated with either a weakened immune system or, in children, with a problem in the development of the thyroid.
Symptoms may include pain in the throat, feeling generally unwell, swelling of the thyroid gland and sometimes symptoms of an overactive thyroid gland or symptoms of an underactive thyroid gland .
These symptoms will usually get better when the infection is treated with antibiotics . In the meantime, thyroid pain can often be managed with NSAIDs. Children will usually require an operation to remove the abnormal part of the thyroid.
Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 21 Dec 2018
Introduction
Thyroiditis is the medical term for inflammation (swelling) of the thyroid gland, which can either cause abnormally low or high levels of thyroid hormones in the blood.
Hashimoto's thyroiditis
Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an autoimmune condition. This means your immune system mistakenly attacks your thyroid gland, causing it to gradually swell and become damaged. As the thyroid gland is slow
De Quervain's (subacute) thyroiditis
De Quervain's thyroiditis (sometimes called subacute thyroiditis) is a painful swelling of the thyroid gland that is thought to be triggered by a viral infection, such as mumps or the flu . It's mo
Post-partum thyroiditis
Like Hashimoto's thyroiditis, post-partum thyroiditis is an autoimmune condition, but it only happens in women who have recently given birth. In post-partum thyroiditis, your immune system attacks yo
Silent (painless) thyroiditis
Silent thyroiditis is very similar to post-partum thyroiditis. It is also an autoimmune condition, but is not related to giving birth and can occur in both men and women. Like postpartum thyroiditis,
Drug-induced thyroiditis
Thyroiditis can also be triggered bymedications includinginterferon,amiodarone, lithiumand a class of drugs to treat certain cancers (which include sunitinib), if thesemedicinesdamage the thyroid glan
Radiation-induced thyroiditis
Radioactive iodine treatment for an overactive thyroid gland or radiotherapy for certain cancers can also damage the thyroid gland, leading to symptoms of an overactive thyroid gland or symptoms of
Acute or infectious thyroiditis
Acute or infectious thyroiditis is usually triggered by a bacterial infection. It is rare and is associated with either a weakened immune system or, in children, with a problem in the development of t
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