Suggest Treatment For Temporal Arteritis

Posted on Fri, 10 Apr 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 10 Apr 2015 Answered on

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Yes, I have a swollen vein I believe in the right temple area. It's been there for about 3 months. I visited a doctor that said it was vein. It subsided somewhat after three days of prednisone treatment. Today, however, it is swollen again and hard to touch. What is going on?

Thank You

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Temporal arteritis can be the reason.

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Thank you for the query.

This is not vein. In this location temporal artery is located. Condition called temporal arteritis can cause such symptom. Due to autoimmune system activation which attacks arteries, you get some kind of inflammation. Inflammation can cause swollen and hard in touch artery.
You may also have headaches and weakness with this condition.
Prednisone is one of treatment options for this condition, so no wonder why it helped.

I suggest you to consult reumathologist with this problem. Artery ultrasound and biopsy should be done.

Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar