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<div class="section1">Usually, no treatment is needed. Artificial tears can be used to relieve the sensation of a foreign body in the eye and to protect against dryness. Surgery to remove the pinguecula or pterygium is advisable when the effect on the cornea causes visual defects or when the thickening is causing excessive and recurrent discomfort or inflammation. Sometimes surgical removal is also performed for cosmetic reasons. However, healing from this type of surgery, although usually painless, takes many weeks, and there is a high rate of recurrence (as high as 50–60% in some regions). Accordingly, surgery is avoided unless problems due to the pinguecula or pterygium are significant.
Several methods have been used to attempt to reduce the recurrence of the pinguecula or pterygium after surgery. One method that should be abandoned is beta radiation. Although it is effective at slowing the regrowth of pingueculae and pterygia, it can cause cataracts. A preferable method is the topical application of the anticancer drug, mitomycin-C.
Source: The Gale Group. Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, 3rd ed.";
