Subacute thyroiditis, also known as viral thyroiditis, is most common in middle-aged women, with a history of upper respiratory tract infection one to two weeks prior to onset. The most characteristic clinical manifestation is pain and pressure in the thyroid gland, which can radiate to the back of the neck, ear and temporal areas. If not treated in time, it can lead to permanent hypothyroidism in about 10% of patients, requiring lifelong replacement therapy with eugenol, which causes serious mental and psychological burden to patients. The disease is mainly treated with glucocorticoids in Western medicine, but the disease is easily recurring and has large side effects, which can lead to adverse complications such as full-moon face and osteoporosis. Our department adopts Chinese herbal medicine for internal use to clear heat and detoxify the toxin, together with local physiotherapy, which can rapidly relieve patients’ symptoms, reduce the recurrence rate, with stable efficacy and significantly improve patients’ prognosis.