How to examine and assess the thyroid gland

The thyroid gland is an important part of humans homeostasis. This medical how to video demonstrates the proper guidelines and techniques for carrying out a thyroid exam and assessment. Always look for facial edema, hair loss, sweaty or fry palms, hand tremors and morphological abnormalities in the neck. This medical video is intended for medical purposes only.

CSO would like to acknowledge Dr Michelle Downie
for performing this examination technique

Possible signs you might observe from a general inspection include:

* Thinning/dry/brittle hair
* Loss of outer third of eyebrows
* Facial myxoedema
* Agitation
* Lid retraction
* Weight changes
* Appropriate dress for temperature

Things you might observe on a patient's hands:
* Palmer erythema
* Sweaty/dry palms
* Tremor
* Thyroid acropachy
* Onycholysis

When examining the same patient’s eyes look for the following:
* Lid lag
* Ophthalmoplegia
* Proptosis
* Exophthalmus

3 other signs from the ones above that you
may detect when examining a patient with thyroid disease:

* Proximal myopathy
* Slow/brisk Reflexes
* Pre-tibial myxoedema
* Pulse Tachy/brady cardia