How your doctor treats your pterygium will depend on the severity and size of the growth. It also depends on where it’s growing within the eye and its effect on the eye.
For example, suppose you have a small pterygium. In that case, it may be best for your doctor to take a conservative approach by prescribing artificial tears or eye drops to fight dryness, irritation, and the feeling that “something is in the eye”.
If the growth is larger and affects your vision, your ophthalmologist may perform pterygium excision surgery to remove the growth. Other reasons your doctor may surgically remove the growth include irritation and cosmetic concerns.
Additionally, the success rate of pterygium excision surgery is relatively high if your doctor removes the growth before it reaches the center of the cornea.
In general, the procedure is simple. You’ll go under local or topic anesthesia. You can receive this treatment on an outpatient basis, which means you’ll be able to go home the same day after the procedure.
After surgical removal of the pterygium, there’s a chance that the growth can come back. However, some research shows that the recurrence rate of pterygium has significantly declined over the past few decades.