Op. Dr. Sedat Selim, Kaşkaloğlu Eye Hospital said that pterygium, which is known as ‘eye meat’ among the people, can lead to vision loss if not treated early.
Stating that the discomfort occurs more in people who work outside and are exposed to ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun, Op. Dr. Sedat Selim pointed out that the disease can be seen in 5 out of every 100 people in our country.
Giving information about the disease, Op. Dr. Selim said, “We can define the disease as meat walking on the cornea, which is the transparent layer of the eye. The flesh of the eye causes astigmatism, causing blurred vision. If it is not intervened in time, it can cause vision loss by closing the pupil.”
Treatment with surgical intervention
Sharing the information that the eye disease manifests itself with the complaints of burning, stinging, redness and vascularity, Op. Dr. Sedat Selim said, “Only the amount of redness decreases with drug treatment. The main treatment is surgical intervention. We achieve successful results with tissue transfer technique at Kaşkaloğlu Eye Hospital. Since we use tissue glue instead of stitches, the feeling of stinging and burning decreases after the operation. While the probability of recurrence of the disease in classical surgeries is 50%, this rate decreases to 1% with the technique we apply. The operation takes 15-20 minutes. The patient can return to his normal life the next day. It is useful to use sunglasses and tear drops to prevent this disease.”
Op. Dr. Selim continued his words as follows, “Moreover, Pterygium should not be confused with the disease called Pinguecula, which is usually seen as a yellow-white bump on the white of the eye. There is usually no discomfort in pinguecula, but if the swelling is excessive, it may cause uneven distribution of the tear layer and cause complaints such as burning and stinging. In the treatment of pingeukula, drugs like Pterygium and surgical treatment can be used when necessary.”
