To diagnose thyroid disease properly is a long process. At first you should by all means consult your practitioner, who would conduct the clinical evaluation. Usually it begins with palpating – the practitioner feels your neck to estimate, whether there is any swelling of the gland. Then he would listen to the gland with a stethoscope. As very often thyroid diseases may result in the slowing of reflexes their testing is also important. Besides, the procedure includes checking of the blood pressure and measuring your weight. The practitioner will examine your skin, eyes and face as well to get enough information.

Later a patient may be asked to have his or her blood checked. The most common thyroid blood test is Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Test, or TSH Test. The results of the test show the amount of TSH in your blood. If a patient has an abnormally higher level of TSH (more than 3.0), then it indicates that he or she probably has hypothyroidism, if the level is below the norm (less than 0.3), it’s the evidence of hyperthyroidism

The test, which measures the levels of free thyroxine, calls Free T4 or Free Thyroxine Test. Those, who have hyperthyroidism, usually have a raised T4 level. Hypothyroidism is typicalof patients with abnormally lowered T4 level. The other blood tests include Thyroglobulin (Thyroid Binding Globulin, TBG), T3 Resin Uptake (T3RU), Reverse T3, Free T3, Total T3, etc.

The procedure of the thyroid testing may also include Imaging Tests, such as Nuclear Scan (helps to diagnose Graves' disease and thyroiditis), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (helps to determine the size and shape of the gland), Thyroid Ultrasound (on the one hand, evaluates whether the thyroid is enlarged, on the other – determines the existence of nodules and lumps), etc.

Sometime it’s also recommended to have fine needle aspiration (FNA), which evaluates cold nodules. The thyroid biopsy shows whether the nodules are cancerous or not. Most cases of the thyroid cancer are diagnosed with the help of FNA. Besides, the aspiration may also indicate whether a person has Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

Being knowledgeable and having enough information of thyroid diseases allow to prevent their development. Moreover, you could make simple self-checking everyday and even if necessary do thyroid self tests.