3 Best Ways to Screen and Check for Thyroid Cancer
3 Best Ways to Screen and Check for Thyroid Cancer
Thyroid Cancer Screening
Thyroid cancer screening is important if we want to catch the cancer early and make it nearly 100% curable. Thyroid cancer screening can be performed by your doctor, or by yourself. This article is about the 3 easiest ways that you can screen and self-check for thyroid cancer.
Thyroid cancer symptoms can be very subtle, but there are 3 simple ways to check your thyroid on your own. The common theme among these 3 ways to check for thyroid cancer is to be your own self advocate. It is important to perform these checks because the symptoms of most thyroid cancers are so nuanced. Therefore, thyroid cancer symptoms do not always jump out at you like losing your voice completely or inability to swallow any foods. Instead, you just may notice a tickle in your throat or the need to drink more water to get food down. Because of the propensity of thyroid cancer symptoms to develop over such a long period of time, the symptoms are often overlooked. People do not recognize that they have thyroid cancer symptoms because the growth of papillary thyroid cancer is so slow. Therefore, a self-check for thyroid cancer and thyroid cancer screening is so important.
3 Best Ways to Check for Thyroid Cancer
- Feel your own neck for lumps and irregularities
- Wellness check with your primary care physician
- Be Self-Aware: look in the mirror and drink some water
First Way to Check for Thyroid Cancer - Feel Your Own Neck for Lumps and Irregularities
Feeling your neck on a regular basis can be your best way to self-check for thyroid cancer. The thyroid is a butterfly shaped organ that lays in the middle of your neck right above your collar bone. It sits on top of your windpipe. Growths or nodules can form within the thyroid gland and can cause slight bulges within the thyroid gland. If you regularly perform a self-check for thyroid cancer, these growths can sometimes be felt with your own fingers. These nodules can harbor thyroid cancer and will clearly need an expert thyroid surgeon for removal. Thyroid cancers can also spread to lymph nodes in the sides of your neck. In the same fashion, performing a self-check for thyroid cancer can detect an enlarged lymph node.
The way to perform a self-check for thyroid cancer would involve moving your fingers around the middle of your neck where your thyroid is. It would also involve moving your fingers throughout both sides of your neck. Lymph nodes that can harbor thyroid cancer are located anywhere from below your ear to you collar bone on both sides of your neck. Therefore, you would want to make sure that you are feeling the whole front and sides of your neck during your self-check for thyroid cancer.
The finding of a lump in your neck during your self-check for thyroid cancer should prompt an expert thyroid evaluation. If a thyroid nodule or lymph node is felt during a self-check for thyroid cancer, then an expert thyroid workup needs to be performed which includes a thorough ultrasound and likely a needle biopsy.
Second Way to Check for Thyroid Cancer – Wellness Visit With Your Primary Care Physician
The second best way to check for thyroid cancer is to stay up to date with your medical visits. This may mean an annual check-up with your primary care physician or your OB/GYN. Both types of physicians will take a complete history and do a thorough physical exam as part of the thyroid cancer screening process. When your physician is taking your history, you will be asked many questions about recent signs and symptoms. Through these questions, certain symptoms may be noted that could be related to a thyroid cancer. If certain symptoms like a change in voice, difficulty swallowing, or a sense of a lump in your throat are mentioned, then a proper thyroid ultrasound would then be ordered.
During your physical exam portion of a thyroid cancer screening, your neck would also be felt to detect any lumps or irregularities. While your doctor is feeling your neck, he/she may feel a growth in your thyroid or an enlarged lymph node. These findings could be indicative of a thyroid cancer and would also prompt a dedicated thyroid ultrasound.
A thyroid cancer screening would also involve laboratory tests, which can indirectly check for thyroid cancer. After your history and physical, a complete blood panel would be taken to include thyroid function tests. It is important to know that an individual can have normal thyroid lab tests and still have thyroid cancer. The significance of checking thyroid lab tests during your thyroid cancer screening is that abnormal thyroid function tests would prompt an ultrasound. During this ultrasound, a suspicious thyroid nodule or lymph node could be found, and this could lead to a diagnosis of thyroid cancer.
Third Way to Check for Thyroid Cancer – Be Self-Aware
Some of the most common symptoms of thyroid cancer can be appreciated if you are self-aware of your own body. Therefore, doing a self-check for thyroid cancer involves being self-aware of thyroid cancer symptoms. Some people may notice that they are having difficulty swallowing. It is not that they cannot get food down. It is more the sense that they have to swallow harder or put more effort into swallowing in order to get a piece of bread or meat down. Some people feel like they need to drink water after every bite. These symptoms of difficulty swallowing are a common symptom of thyroid cancer. This occurs because the cancerous growth is sitting on top of your swallowing tube and causing compression of this soft structure.
Another symptom to be self-aware of when performing your self-check for thyroid cancer is to be aware of a cough that will not go away. This may manifest as a constant clearing of your throat or a tickle in the back of your throat. The most important thing to be aware of is that you have a cough, but you are not sick. In other words, you do not have any other symptoms associated with a virus or allergy like a runny nose, itchy eyes, or chest congestion. This cough is occurring because the cancerous growth is sitting on top of your windpipe. Being aware of this cough should trigger a prompt evaluation of your thyroid.
You should also be aware of your friend’s necks and perform a thyroid cancer screening check for them. Many times, women will come into the office saying that they were having lunch with a friend and the friend noticed a lump in their neck. This awareness of your friend’s neck can lead to the diagnosis and cure of her thyroid cancer. In other words, you were performing a check for thyroid cancer in your friend’s neck just by being observant during a casual lunch.
The last symptom to be aware of during your self-check for thyroid cancer is a change in your voice. This symptom is usually a late finding and can mean that the cancer is involving the nerve to your voice box. The nerves that go to your voice box travel right underneath the thyroid gland. A thyroid cancer could be irritating these nerves or, in worst case scenarios, actually invading these nerves. Changes in voice can be subtle and only recognizable to the person themselves. Other times, the changes can be dramatic causing significant hoarseness. If any of these changes are noticed, a prompt thyroid evaluation is indicated and may be an urgent matter.
The Clayman Thyroid Center: Expertise in Thyroid Cancer Evaluation and Thyroid Cancer Surgery.
Find out more about the Clayman Thyroid Center and its surgeons at The Hospital for Endocrine Surgery.
Further Reading:
Thyroid Nodules
Thyroid Cancer Surgery
Thyroid Surgery Videos
Thyroid Cancer Symptoms