What is a Pterygium?

A Pterygium is a growth of tissue across the white of the eye which extends across the clear cornea, towards the pupil. This will often be noticed as a white or red patch which commonly starts from the nose side of the eye but can occur from the ear side as well. By and large these are benign or non cancerous growths which are very common in countries such as Australia where we are exposed to lots of UV rays from the sun and spend a lot of time outside. It can occur in people of all ages. You may have problems with them affecting your vision due to them slightly changing the shape of the cornea, causing astigmatism, or they may be large enough to be blocking your line of sight. More commonly they can also become inflamed or red which can cause irritation like the feeling of having sand or grit in your eye.

Symptoms and Signs of a Pterygium

• Blurry Vision
• Irritation or feeling like something in your eye
• White or red patch across your eye

Treatment of Pterygium

If your pterygium is not affecting your eyesight, most of the time your Doctor may try non-surgical options first such as moisturising tear drops or gels and anti-inflammatory eye drops. If these options are not suitable or not working, your Doctor may recommend surgery to remove them. There is no other way of removing pterygiums apart from surgery. The surgery is done as a day procedure and the eye is ‘put to sleep’ with an
anaesthetic needle. The surgeon cuts away the pterygium and then takes a small graft of skin from a different part of the eye and stitches or glues this over the top of where the pterygium was. This aims to help with healing as well as reduce the chances of it coming back. This procedure is very common and safe but the eye can be irritated and red for some some weeks after the surgery.

What is a Pinguecula?

A Pinguecula is similar to a pterygium but is usually confined to the white of the eye and does not grow across the cornea. Rarely these require surgery but if necessary, can be removed in a similar manner to a Pterygium.