Pterygium (Surfer's Eye): A UV-Driven Growth on the Surface of the Eye

A pterygium, colloquially "surfer's eye," is a pinkish, roughly triangular growth of conjunctiva tissue that extends onto the cornea, usually starting from the side nearest the nose. It is a benign but progressive condition linked to long-term environmental exposure rather than a single injury. **Causes and risk factors:** the strongest associations are chronic ultraviolet radiation exposure plus dust, wind, and dry air, the classic profile of outdoor workers, farmers, fishers, and surfers. Prevalence is markedly higher near the equator and in sunny climates, ranging from about 1% to as high as 33% depending on region. It occurs roughly twice as often in men as in women and becomes more common with age. The condition has been recognized since antiquity, described as far back as 1000 BC. **Symptoms** range from cosmetic to functional: persistent redness, inflammation, a foreign-body or gritty sensation, tearing, and dry or itchy eyes. Most pterygia stay small and never threaten sight, but advanced growth can distort the cornea, causing astigmatism, or grow far enough across to interfere with vision. **Treatment** is conservative when symptoms are mild, mainly artificial tears and UV avoidance. Surgical removal is reserved for cases that affect vision or comfort, and recurrence is a real problem, with roughly half of cases recurring after simple excision. Conjunctival autografting (transplanting the patient's own tissue over the gap) has a substantially lower recurrence rate than older techniques. **Prevention** centers on reducing UV and wind exposure with UV400 sunglasses, ideally wraparound or with side shields, plus wide-brimmed hats. See UV Eye Damage: Why Sunglasses Are Medical Equipment, Not Just an Accessory for context, and Photokeratitis: Snow Blindness, Welder's Flash, and Acute UV Burns to the Eye for the acute counterpart. *General informational content, not medical advice.*