Thyroid Nodules, Thyroid Lumps & The Thyroid Enlargement Known as a Goiter.

If your doctor has diagnosed you as having a thyroid nodule, a thyroid lump or an enlargement of the thyroid known as goiter, you'll want to know more about the diagnosis and treatment process, the relationship between nodules to thyroid cancer, and follow up. Alternatively, you may experience a swelling of the thyroid gland, also known as a goiter.

Thyroid nodules are very common. A nodule is a swelling or lump, which can be a solid or liquid filled cyst or mass. Most are benign, but a small percentage can be cancerous. So you should always have a nodule evaluated by your physician as soon as you notice it. An estimated one in 12 to 15 women and one in 50 men has a thyroid nodule More than 90 percent of all thyroid nodules are not cancerous.

Some symptoms of thyroid nodules include palpitations, insomnia, weight loss, anxiety, and tremors, common in hyperthyroidism.  Common hypothyroidism symptoms might include weight gain, fatigue, depression. Some people will cycle back and forth between hyperthyroid and hypothyroid symptoms. Others may have difficulty swallowing, a feeling of fullness, pain or pressure in the neck, a hoarse voice, or neck tenderness. And finally, many people have nodules with no obvious symptoms related to thyroid dysfunction at all.

A goiter is an enlargement of the thyroid, and is sometimes used as a term to refer to an enlarged thyroid. The thyroid becomes large enough so that it can be seen as enlarged on ultrasounds or x- rays, and may be enlarged enough to enlarge the neck area visibly. Some symptoms of a goiter include tenderness to the touch, pressing on your windpipe or your esophagus, coughing, hoarseness, shortness of breath, fullness in your neck, choking or shortness of breath at night, or a feeling that food is getting stuck in your throat.

Goitre is caused due to deficiency of iodine in diet, it is also known as Goiter, the deficiency of iodine causes swelling in the neck where thyroid gland is, there are 90% cases worldwide effected by goiter, iodine is a compulsory mineral for avoiding goiter, most commonly it is widely seen in those countries which are developing and the intake of salts or iodine are low there, iodine is to be taken by every men, women, children, teenage and infant to avoid goiter.