It is a common eye condition that affects people who spends a lot of time outdoors, it can affect anyone even children who don’t wear sunglasses outside.
It is a growth of pink, fleshy tissue on the white of the eye; it usually forms on the side closest to the nose and grows toward the centre of the eye.
It is a noncancerous lesion that usually grows slowly throughout life; it may even stop growing after a certain point. In advanced cases, pterygium can continue to grow until it covers the pupil of the eye and interferes with vision. It may affect one or both eyes.
It is usually not a serious condition though it can cause annoying symptoms such as burning, gritty and itchy sensation, foreign body sensation and blurred vision. Sometimes the growth becomes red and irritated such that it requires medical treatment even surgery in advanced cases.
When pterygium progressively grows onto the cornea (the clear, outer layer of the eye), it distorts the shape of the cornea causing the condition called astigmatism which results in blurred vision.
Pterygium is often preceded by a related noncancerous condition called pinguecula ( a yellowish patch or bump on the conjunctiva near the cornea which prevents tears from coating the surface of your eyeball) .
What Cause Pterygium
Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light ( sunlight exposure)
