Ptygerium

I have been diagnosed with Pytergium. I have it in both eyes. The right has been operated on three times *10 years ago) and the left has had no operation. It seems that the pyterguim is growing quickly (I have lymes disease)  ... I have extremely sore red eyes which run tears occassionaly...and pains like something is being stuck into my eye. Is there treatment out there besides operations and lasers...which don't really seem to stop it? What is ptyergium and is it dangerous...could I go blind? I am an american living in Norway...and worry that they do not know enough. Can you explain the disease and tell me what I should be pressing for with regards to operations and knowledge?

[womanofGod42]

hello i am a 42 year old female and i went to the doctor yesterday and he told me that i have ptygerium in both eyes... Can someone write me back and tell me what this is and what i need to do to correct it if any. my e-mail address is crenshaw_f***@****.
thanks

[rooneyandfergie]

Hi, there are actually no drugs that can reliably retard or prevent the progress of pterygium. If you had not been doing it already, you must wear sunglasses and prevent UV rays from touching your eyes.
If i am not wrong, I think pterygium surgery with MMC and AMT has a very low recurrence rate. I dont know if that was the type of surgery that you had done before. I dont think you would go blind from it. It's very rare for that to happen. Its basically a disease of the conjunctiva, it shouldnt cause permanent blindness i believe. Hope this helps.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Use Google IMAGES and type in pterygium to see what they look like. If small they donot need to be removed. They develop due to sun damage and as one lives closer to the equator they become very very common.  Best protection is hat with wide bill and sunglasses with UV blocking lens.

Reoccurence is very common 10-15%.  Suggest you see a cornea Specialist ophthalmologist. to prevent reoccurence or for recurrent pterygia tissue grafting and antimetabolite use such as 5-FU or mytomycin are very helpful.

JCH MD

[jack327]

While serving in the Air Force, I had 4 ptygeriums removed and 40 years later
I still have one on my left eye. Since I was advised to stay away from radiation
of any sort the current growth has not grown to the extent that it needs to be removed, only slight vision impairment.  During the period of time that the
ptygeriums appeared and continued to grow, I was working on and around high
frequency radiating equipment.  This equipment included radio frequencies, radar frequencies, electronic countermeasure frequencies.  
Your Comment Please?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I am also USAF Viet (Nam Era). The ptygeriums are related to sun exposure and UV damage not to any of the equipment you used.

Thank you for your service.

JCH MD