SKIN SIGNS OF LOW THYROID LEVELS. Dermatologist @Dr Dray on skin signs of hypothyroidism. Hair loss and brittle nails from low thyroid. How low thyroid changes your face. #thyroidhealth #hypothyroid #thyroid
Well hey guys if you are new here i’m a board-certified dermatologist and in this video i’m going to be going over the skin signs of low thyroid hormone otherwise known as hypothyroidism you guys know i love dermatology so much because the skin the hair the nails they are a window to what is going on internally and there are many skin manifestations of hypothyroidism
First of all what the heck is the thyroid anyway it’s a small gland that sits in the front of the neck and it makes hormones that are critical for how your body uses energy now when the thyroid hormone becomes low then your body kind of slows down in a variety of different ways why might someone have low thyroid hormone the most common cause of hypothyroidism is
An autoimmune disease called hashimoto’s thyroiditis in which you have an autoimmune attack on the body’s ability to make thyroid hormone properly you also can have inflammation in the thyroid that’s called thyroiditis it may happen if you get sick you have a viral infection some people undergo surgery and have some or all of their thyroid removed and because of
That they have to be on thyroid medication for the rest of their lives others may receive radiation therapy to the thyroid that results in hypothyroidism certain medications can lead to low thyroid hormone namely lithium amiodarone carbamazepine and phenytoin you can even be born with hypothyroidism although that’s rare it’s called congenital hypothyroidism now
Because iodine plays a pivotal role in synthesis of thyroid hormone diets that have too much iodine or too little iodine actually can result in hypothyroid hypothyroidism is actually really really common there is a good chance that you know somebody or even you yourself have dealt with this at some point in your life it’s actually pretty common the symptoms of low
Thyroid are insidious meaning they gradually accumulate over time to be problematic initially they include things like low energy fatigue it can impact your mood cause depression and other psychiatric symptoms it certainly can impact your weight and lead to weight gain cold intolerance weakness an inability to concentrate now as we get older our risk of low
Thyroid increases but unfortunately these symptoms sometimes they they get misdiagnosed as just being related to getting older or you know dealing with adult life issues oh you’re stressed out that’s why you’re tired all the time of course you’re tired you have you know three kids and blah blah blah low thyroid hormone also can be misdiagnosed as a psychiatric
Illness depression for example people have been known to be put on antidepressants when in reality they have thyroid disease so what are the skin clues for low thyroid the skin becomes cold pale and dry when you have low thyroid hormone your core body temperature lowers and in an effort to preserve that the compensatory mechanism is for the blood vessels in your
Extremities to clamp down to hold on to heat to keep the core part of the body warm and because of that you have cooling of the extremities the arms the legs you have cold hands and feet the dry skin with thyroid disease can be pretty intense recently i did a video on extreme dry skin otherwise known as ichthyosis bulgaris and in that video i pointed out that that
Condition can be acquired secondary to an underlying medical cause and hypothyroidism is a medical cause of acquired ichthyosis vulgaris why well thyroid hormone plays a huge role in the output of sweat the output of oil and the synthesis of fats in the top layer of the skin the epidermis so thyroid hormone is really important for skin barrier function overall and
For lubricating the skin with oils and that dryness is most profound on the extremities the legs the arms a lot of you guys i know deal with dry cracked heels hypothyroidism can definitely be a cause of that it’s called acquired pulmoplantar cradoderm it can affect the palms and the soles of the feet it’s pretty intense and an underlying thyroid issue may be at play
Recently i did a video on what diabetes does to the skin and in that video i pointed out that it can cause a diffuse yellowing of the skin called keratinemia that also can happen in hypothyroidism why that occurs we don’t really know but it’s most obvious on the palms and soles especially if you have a deeper skin tone it’s not going to be obvious on the rest of
Your skin but if you look very carefully at the palms and soles they have yellowing and that is thought to be due to abnormalities and the metabolism of carotene from the diet one thing people don’t realize often is that dermatologists not only are we specialists when it comes to diagnosing issues of the skin but also issues of the nails and the hair hypothyroidism
Definitely can impact your hair because thyroid hormone plays a key role in the hair cycle and people who have hypothyroidism they develop diffuse thinning of the hair because their hair cycle is kind of all screwed up as a result of low thyroid hormone they also can develop what’s called a telogen effluvium a lot of hair shedding and the hair itself becomes very
Coarse and brittle and prone to breakage and this can affect not only the hair on your scalp but the rest of your body one key finding that you can often pick up on and people who have hypothyroidism is that the lateral third the outer third of their eyebrow becomes thin now there are other conditions that can cause thinning of the eyebrows i have a video by the
Way on thinning eyebrows so check that out if it’s something you’re dealing with it’s not always hypothyroidism but that is another clue and it’s related to the hair cycle being shifted around and affected from lack of thyroid hormone with hypothyroidism the nails also grow really really slowly they’re quite brittle if the hypothyroidism continues untreated you
Can get an increase in something called muco polysaccharides things like hyaluronic acid the ground substance in the deeper layers of our skin you know we’re all a lot of people pay to have hyaluronic acid injected into their lips to look fuller but with hypothyroidism you can get an accumulation of that type of substance and it has a profound water binding
Ability and as a result people with hypothyroidism they develop a condition called mixed edema due to accumulation of that ground substance the skin becomes swollen and almost has a waxy appearance as a result of accumulation of this mucopolysaccharides and increased water binding capacity in the deeper layers of the skin and it can actually change your face it
Can cause broadening of the nose the lips become very swollen you get puffy eyelids and the tongue becomes noticeably enlarged polysaccharide accumulation it doesn’t just occur in the skin though it can occur throughout the body including around the heart around the vocal cords and a presenting symptom is deepening of your voice as a result of the accumulation
Of that mucopolysaccharide the skin looks very pale in hypothyroidism because basically the accumulation of ground substance mucopolysaccharides in the deeper layers of the skin with all that water binding ability down there and all that increased water content it it changes how light is reflected off the skin and it looks a lot paler you also can get entrapment
Of the nerves in the wrist and you can get what’s called carpal tunnel syndrome numbness and tingling of the fingers and poor grip strength in the hands and that entrapment can also occur uh in the face you get facial droop referred to as a facial palsy you can also have abnormalities in the function of the muscles around the eyes and you get a droopy eyelid in
Many cases people with hypothyroidism they’re prone to bruising probably related to a decrease in production of clotting factors and the blood vessels the capillaries are much weaker those are the skin signs of hypothyroidism now they don’t all come out at once we’re talking about accumulation over time when untreated and these things will resolve when the thyroid
Hormone is replaced with a medication there also are some other skin diseases that are associated with hypothyroidism meaning if you have hypothyroidism especially autoimmune hypothyroidism you’re more likely to have some of these other conditions the first one is alopecia areata that is an another autoimmune disease that attacks your hair and it presents with a
Sudden loss of hair maybe in just a few patches you get all of a sudden a complete bold patch it can affect your eyebrows and it can affect your eyelashes it can affect hair on anywhere on your body so if you have hypothyroid you are at increased risk for having alopecia areata vice versa if you have alopecia areata you are at increased risk for having autoimmune
Thyroid disease vitiligo another autoimmune condition this time it attacks the pigment producing cells in your skin leads to white patches with no pigment uh it can affect the skin and the hair as well and chronic hives chronic urticaria is also associated with the presence of anti-thyroid antibodies and in some cases treating the thyroid disease will result in
Resolution of those hives people with hypothyroidism also can develop a variety of different anemias anemia is basically when your blood is not optimally carrying oxygen around we’ll say and one reason for that with hypothyroidism is that you can develop an autoimmune attack on part of the stomach that makes something called intrinsic factor which is necessary
For the binding of b12 so you don’t take b12 up well i have a video that i did fairly recently on the skin signs of b12 deficiency remember autoimmune disease was one reason to be b12 deficient and for folks who have hypothyroidism they are at increased risk for what’s called pernicious anemia basically autoimmune anemia related to uh you know an inability to
Take a b12 properly so those are the skin hair and nail manifestations of hypothyroidism it is a really common disease a lot of people deal with it and it can make life very difficult for people who are going through this as you can imagine poor energy weakness fatigue mood changes increase weight poor exercise tolerance constipation people deal with as a result
Of hypothyroidism i mean a lot of symptoms and it really can be be quite devastating to cope with fortunately you know these these things i’ve outlined here that occur with hypothyroidism they do resolve when the hypothyroidism is treated but that can take some time so it is really you know not a pleasant thing to have to deal with i think you know people who
Deal with hypothyroidism oftentimes they struggle to maintain their weight as you can imagine when your thyroid is low your metabolism slows down so you put on weight you don’t have good energy so you’re not able to exercise you can have really poor exercise tolerance as a result of the hypothyroidism and because of the increase in those mucopolysaccharides you
Actually have accumulation of water weight now when the thyroid disease is treated that can go away but it can take some time so i think this group of people is a vulnerable target for the diet and wellness marketing of all sorts of gimmicky products you know to balance your hormones and for thyroid health and all of these things so you really have to be careful
Having hypothyroidism it can be very emotionally taxing just kind of feeling like your body you have no control over anything so hopefully this video outlined you you know the skin findings of hypothyroidism but also you know some of the other symptoms that can easily be dismissed um as you know just stress related to day-to-day adult life or you know just old age
But in reality you know that is a very very treatable condition that if left untreated it can be deadly it can be quite deadly and take a tremendous toll on your health and your emotional health all right you guys so those are the skin signs of hypothyroidism i hope this was informative on the insulate i’m going to put my most recent video on what diabetes does
To your skin and you know the skin signs of diabetes if you want to check that out but if you like this video give it a thumbs up share with your friends and as always don’t forget sunscreen and subscribe i’ll talk to you guys tomorrow bye so you
Transcribed from video
SKIN SIGNS OF LOW THYROID LEVELS // DERMATOLOGIST @Dr Dray By Dr Dray
