AKA 'surfers eye.' Commonly affects those spending time outdoors.
What is a pterygium?
Pterygium (surfers eye)
A pterygium (“wing of tissue”) is an overgrowth of tissue from the white of the eye over onto the cornea (crystal window of the eye). It normally presents on the “nose” side of the eye although occasionally, in less than 1 percent of cases, it may come from the “ear” side.
It usually presents in patients over the age of 20 or 30 years although it has been known to occur during teenage years.
Symptoms
Most patients have no symptoms from the pterygium except that they may be aware that there is a small piece of reddish tissue growing over the coloured part of the eye from the white of the eye.
In some patients, this pterygium may become red and inflamed in irritating circumstances, such as smoke-filled rooms, air conditioning, lack of sleep, sunlight etc.
In a very small percentage of patients, the pterygium may actually interfere and reduce vision by pulling on the cornea (crystal window of the eye) and deforming it (astigmatism), or by actually coming so close to the line of vision that it interferes with vision.
It is frequently a cosmetic blemish.
Causes
Although we do not know all the factors that are responsible for the development of a pterygium in the first place, research has identified an extremely strong relationship with how much sunlight one is exposed to in the first 10 years of life, and also to ongoing sunlight exposure after that time.
For example, a child growing up for the first 10 years of life near the Equator has a 40 times increased risk of developing a pterygium compared to a cousin growing up for the same period of time in the UK. This is as a result of the increased sunlight exposure.
Prevention
Prevention is better than cure and there are strong reasons to believe that the use of adequate protection of the eyes against sunlight may reduce the rate of this disease occurring in the community.
It is essential that children before kindergarten and primary school age should be kept out of the midday sun and if this is not possible they should wear a broad-brimmed bonnet, be wheeled in a stroller with an awning and wear appropriate sunglasses at the earliest age possible. By the time the child is of primary school age, sunglasses should be worn whenever outdoors.
When purchasing a pair of sunglasses, it is important they are labelled 100% UV resistant. For tips when buying sunglasses follow the link below https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/top-sunglasses-tips.
When protecting the eyes from ultraviolet radiation, wrap-around and close fitting sunglasses are the most effective type.
Consult your eye care professional when selecting appropriate sunglasses.
Treatment
In some cases, surgery may be the appropriate method to treat this condition. The principal reasons that surgery may be required are for those patients in whom over the counter drops do not give sufficient relief for chronic irritation and redness, in patients in whom the pterygium is large enough to be a cosmetic blemish, or in patients in whom the vision is either affected already, or may be affected by continued growth of the pterygium.
