Symptoms of Temporal Arteritis
Symptoms of temporal arteritis may develop rapidly -- in some patients, overnight. In other people, symptoms develop more gradually. Common symptoms include:
- One-sided severe headache
- Pain in the temples, especially when chewing
- Tenderness in the temple area
- Blurred or double vision
- Pain in the jaw and tongue
- Low-grade fever
- Body aches
- Muscle pain
- Stiffness
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Confusion
- Depression
- Anemia
- Vision loss
- Sweats
- Dementia (rarely).
These possible symptoms of temporal arteritis are not sure signs of the disease. Other problems can also cause these symptoms. Anyone with possible symptoms of temporal arteritis should see their doctor so that the problem can be diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible.
Diagnosing Temporal Arteritis
No single test is available to definitively diagnose temporal arteritis. To make a temporal arteritis diagnosis, a physician considers the patient's medical history, including symptoms that the patient reports, results of the physical exam, blood tests that can rule out other possible diagnoses, and results of other procedures, including a
temporal artery biopsy.
Treating Temporal Arteritis
Temporal arteritis carries a small but definite risk of blindness. This blindness is permanent once it happens. In order to prevent this,
temporal arteritis treatment uses a high dose of
prednisone, which is a corticosteroid medicine. This treatment should be started as soon as possible, perhaps even before the diagnosis is confirmed with a temporal artery biopsy.
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