Thyroid

In some cases of thyroid problems, medication may not be strong enough to take care of the problem. You may also find that your body is resistant to medications and they aren’t working properly. In these cases, your doctor may recommend thyroid surgery.

When you have an overactive thyroid, or what’s called hyperthyroidism, the thyroid produces too much of hormones called thyroxine and triiodothyronine. These hormones are what help the thyroid do its job – they are the key element to controlling the metabolism and your internal thermostat. When you produce too much thyroxine, you may experience tremors, muscle fatigue, irritability, anxiety, changes in appetite and unexplained weight loss. Thyroid problems are fairly common, and can usually be controlled by oral medication. However, in some severe cases, surgery may be needed to fix the problem.

In thyroid surgery, some or all of your thyroid may be extracted depending on the severity of your situation. The procedure is called a thyroidectomy. A thyroidectomy may be performed if you have certain conditions including hyperthyroidism, as explained earlier, thyroid cancer or a noncancerous enlargement of the thyroid.

During thyroid surgery, the patient is placed under general anesthesia while the doctor makes an incision in the neck area to remove part or the whole thyroid. Recovery is moderate, and most people can return to normal activities within a couple of weeks. You will likely have a sore neck and experience a hoarse voice for a few days. The procedure takes a few hours.

If your whole thyroid is removed, you will need to take hormone replacements in order to replicate the function of the thyroid in the body. Without thyroxine in the body, your metabolism can’t work correctly and lacks the hormone that helps you burn calories and maintain a healthy weight. The doctor will determine through blood tests how much of the hormone you need and your proper dosage, it varies for each person. You will have to take the medication every day for it to resume the important function in the body. Now, if the surgery was performed to remove only part of your thyroid, hormone replacement may not be necessary. Usually, the remaining part of the thyroid resumes the normal function of the entire gland.

Recovery time is usually just a few weeks, and the procedure is considered safe. However, some complications have occurred and should be understood before thyroid surgery. After the surgery, you may have trouble with a hoarse voice. In some cases, the weak or hoarse voice is permanent. The thyroid also controls the amount of calcium in the blood. In some cases, the thyroid surgery affects the calcium levels in your body and results in a condition called hypocalcemia. There also may be some bleeding and blocking in your airways.

The opposite of an overactive thyroid, called hypoparathyroidism, may develop after surgery. What happens in this condition is that your thyroid does not produce enough parathyroid hormone, the key to regulating the body’s amount of calcium and phosphorous. Not having enough of these two minerals in the body can be harmful to the bones and can make them brittle. This condition is chronic and you will have to take supplements to maintain the mineral levels in your body.

Like any surgery, there are risks and possible complications. The thyroid plays such a significant role in the body’s day-to-day maintenance of health. If you need thyroid surgery, it is especially important to know what treatments you may need after the procedure to ensure that your thyroid will work properly. Fortunately, hormone replacement and supplements are effective for regulating the normal functioning of the thyroid.

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