In most mild cases of pterygium, artificial tears can be used to reduce dryness and inflammation. Other anti-inflammatory eye drops can be prescribed by your ophthalmologist to reduce flare-ups.

For patients with severe cases whose vision has been affected, different types of surgery are available. Surgery is the only way to definitively remove a pterygium, but it is not a perfect solution; it requires long-term follow-up, and there is always a risk that the pterygium will grow back. The currently preferred methods of pterygium excision are:

• Conjunctival autografting is a safe and effective technique that surgically removes a pterygium and reduces the chance of recurrence. In this procedure, the pterygium over the cornea is removed along with the base of abnormal conjunctival tissue covering the sclera. This tissue over the sclera is replaced with a patch of transplanted tissue from the part of the conjunctiva that is protected by the upper eyelid (the autograft). This autograft is secured with either tiny absorbable sutures or tissue adhesive.
• Amniotic membrane transplant is used either as a primary procedure if the size of the pterygium too large for an autograft, or if a prior attempt at conjunctival autograft had failed. This procedure uses amniotic membrane (which is the lining of the human placenta), to provide enough coverage of a defect that would be created by excising a large pterygium. This technique is often very successful in the most severe cases.