A young man recently came to me with advanced Pterygium growths on his eyes. He was terrified of surgery and the look of fear in his face was striking. A close friend of his had the same Pterygium surgery years ago with another doctor and had a really hard time after the surgery. Old school Pterygium surgery uses sutures. It is effective, but the first 3 weeks after the surgery can be very uncomfortable and even downright painful. His friend was basically stuck in bed for 3 weeks. To make matters even worse, his friend’s growth came back. Poor guy.
Of course, his friend told him to avoid Pterygium surgery like the plague. He quoted the 2 main myths of Pterygium surgery that I encounter all the time:
Myth #1: After Pterygium surgery, you will experience a miserable and painful recuperative period for (up to) 3 weeks, and
Myth #2: Pterygium growths come back.
He grilled me with a lot of questions and was very hesitant, understandably so. I was a little surprised when he eventually called to schedule his Pterygium surgery, but it went great and he is doing very well now. In fact, he had his other eye done shortly after the first. We have discussed how our Pterygium removal technique differs from painful older techniques and hopefully I will get the chance to fix his friend’s recurrent Pterygium.
Our Pterygium Removal Techniques are Superior
There are many tricks I use for better Pterygium removal surgery. Although my triple anesthetic keeps people comfortable, the use of tissue glue instead of stitches is crucial.
It costs more, but the combined effects of superior patient comfort and reduced inflammation are worth it. Patients are able to return to work in a few days and all that is needed for pain is Tylenol. With proper surgical technique, our Pterygium recurrence rate is less than 1%.
I will continue to perform great Pterygium removal surgery with fantastic outcomes and hopefully get word out that Pterygium surgery can be both comfortable and incredibly effective.