How to Test Your Thyroid Function at Home

More than 26 million Americans have thyroid disease, although at least 60% of them are unaware they have any issues. Many doctors do not test for thyroid conditions or use a full thyroid panel to correctly diagnose a thyroid condition. Women have a 75% higher risk of developing thyroid problems, and the majority of cases are believed to be autoimmune responses.

You can test your thyroid function at home. Let’s take a look at how to do this. Depending on the results, you may want to check in with your doctor to discuss a possible thyroid condition.

Thyroid hormone and body temperature

Thyroid hormone plays a key role in the metabolism of every cell of your body. It helps to increase the metabolic activity of most cells and helps to regulate the body’s temperature levels. When thyroid hormone expression is dysregulated, your body temperature will be off.

In addition, you may experience symptoms like unexplained weight gain, menstrual or fertility problems, fatigue, dry skin and hair, high cholesterol, and more.

Thyroid and basal body temperature (BBT)

A major clinical sign of hypothyroidism is low body temperature. Analyzing the body’s basal body temperature (BBT) through axillary (underarm) testing is an effective method to determine your thyroid function in an inexpensive, non-invasive way. Some research has been conducted on BBT that found it is highly correlated with low thyroid activity.