Artificial tears, gels, and ointments can go a long way toward easing dryness. If you have a lot of swelling -- especially if it leads to double vision or loss of vision -- you might need to take a steroid called prednisone for a few weeks to bring the swelling down. In the rare cases when these don’t work, your doctor might recommend surgery to remove some tissue from your eye socket or radiation therapy, where high-energy X-rays are aimed at the eye muscle.
Graves' ophthalmopathy tends to get better after a few years, but you may have eye problems that need to be corrected with surgery. For example, you might need surgery to ease pain and pressure on your optic nerve, fix the alignment of your eye muscles, or make sure your eyelids cover and protect your eyes.