You may see several kinds of doctors for Graves' disease, including the following:
- Endocrinologist — An endocrinologist is a doctor who treats hormone issues in the body. In Graves' disease, these doctors will check for thyroid problems and control them. Graves' eye disease patients have the best outcomes with well-controlled thyroid function.
- Primary care doctor — Your primary care doctor will be helpful for coordinating your care with the other doctors. Any patient with a medical issue needs a good quarterback. Your primary care doctor can be critical in this role.
- Ophthalmologist/optometrist — Your ophthalmologist or optometrist can check your vision and look for vision loss. They can test your vision with visual fields and imaging of the optic nerve. If your eye doctor is not comfortable treating Graves' eye disease, you should see a specialist, such as an oculoplastic surgeon or neuro-ophthalmologist.
- Oculoplastic surgeon — Your oculoplastic surgeon is the surgeon who will perform your eye socket and eyelid surgery if needed.
- Strabismus surgeon — This is the surgeon who performs double vision surgery on the eye muscles. They also can be helpful to prescribe prisms for your glasses.
- Neuro-ophthalmologist — This eye doctor is a specialist in optic nerve damage. In some cases they may be recruited to help diagnose, manage and treat a problem with the optic nerve. In other cases, they may be asked to evaluate people who their ophthalmologist or optometrist believes may have Graves' eye disease.
- Psychologist/psychiatrist — These doctors can be helpful to aid people dealing with the psychological and/or emotional issues from developing Graves' disease. This can be critical for mental well-being during the disease course.
