Greenville SC Thyroid Doctor Explains How To Get To The Root Cause Of Low Thyroid
If you continue to struggle with low thyroid symptoms despite the support of a health care provider, it might feel like something’s been missed. You take your medication as directed, but you don’t feel any better. You actually feel worse.
Patients often seek medical care initially for symptoms like weight gain, or the inability to lose weight despite diet and exercise. Maybe you’ve been struggling with moodiness, joint pain, extreme lethargy or thinning hair. In an effort to help you feel better, your physician probably ordered blood work that identified low thyroid. You were put on medication and according to lab work, your thyroid is now ‘fine.’ But if you still feel awful, you know something is wrong with your health.
The problem is, the blood work being utilized isn’t giving a big enough picture. Low thyroid is typically identified and monitored through a narrow range of tests. TSH levels are checked to determine how the thyroid is functioning and whether or not thyroid replacement medication is working. Unfortunately, TSH levels give no real indication of what’s causing your thyroid problem. An insufficient level of thyroid hormone may be associated with your condition—including your symptoms—but it is not the reason you are unwell.
Getting to the root cause of your low thyroid is a better approach for many patients. Thyroid conditions are typically complex; they are rarely simple matters that respond well to a simple approach. Consider a case where the body’s cells are unable to utilize thyroid hormone properly. Normalized TSH levels will not reflect this dysfunction or its impact on your health.
The number one cause of low thyroid is the autoimmune disease known as Hashimoto’s. If your body’s immune system is attacking the thyroid and your body is struggling with inflammation, thyroid replacement isn’t likely to help you feel better.
Thyroid hormone levels are insufficient as an indicator of all of the dysfunction, imbalance and damage that may be occurring as a result of an autoimmune disease. People who have Hashimoto’s may struggle with a wide range of health problems, including digestive issues, skin conditions such as eczema, adrenal problems and more.
Instead of seeking the limited support provided by traditional medicine, you can opt to work with a practitioner who is trained, committed and able to get to the root cause of your thyroid problem. Functional wellness practitioners rely on comprehensive, in-depth testing that allows them to gain as full a picture as possible of each patient’s condition.
This type of thyroid evaluation allows the practitioner to pinpoint how and why you are experiencing specific symptoms. A very specific, customized care plan can then be developed that will help you feel better. It will facilitate healing, balance and proper function throughout your body’s systems and organs.
Health care for low thyroid conditions shouldn’t involve a ‘one size fits all’ approach that is limited in its ability to identify causes. Functional wellness offers the type of comprehensive care that can make all the difference.
