Pterygiums are believed to be caused by ultraviolet light from the sun and for this reason are often called ‘surfer’s eye’. 

In many cases, treatment is not needed unless you start to experience symptoms. Treatment is aimed at reducing the discomfort and redness with lubricating and/or steroid eye drops. In some cases your ophthalmologist will recommend surgery to remove it. Surgery involved removal of the pterygium and a thin graft of normal tissue is placed onto the affected area to reduce change of recurrence.

Dr Matthew Ball, Dr Stephanie Young and Dr Tanya Karaconji are able to provide pterygium excision surgery using the latest surgical techniques.

For further information we recommend the EyeSmart website which is a free resource to access comprehensive, trustworthy and medically accurate information written by ophthalmologists.