Thyroid Nodules

Your thyroid gland may develop one or more small lumps of tissue. These lumps are called nodules. The gland may develop one nodule or many nodules.

If you have nodules, your thyroid usually continues to work at the right pace (Euthyroid). Most of the time, nodules don’t affect the production of thyroid hormone and usually cause no symptoms, although sometimes they can be felt from the outside of the neck.

Usually, the cause of nodules can’t be pinpointed, but they may be more common in people who’ve had therapeutic radiation to the head or neck in childhood for problems such as acne or swollen tonsils.

Nodules are usually harmless, but occasionally they may be a sign of thyroid cancer. Although the probability of your thyroid nodule being cancer is small, the chance for a nodule being cancer is increased if there is a familial thyroid cancer history, exposure to radiation to the neck, rapid growth of the nodule, and change of voice.

Read about thyroid treatment.