There's A Bump on My Eye Part 3: Pterygium

A small pterygium like this typically would not require surgery, and instead your doctor would monitor yearly and recommend sun and dryness protection. via

A pterygium is similar to a callous in concept; it usually results from chronic irritation, dryness, and UV exposure.  No surprise, pterygia are more common in equatorial countries, or people that spend most of their days outdoors (I often see them in construction workers). Sun and wind damage can turn the conjunctiva (the vascular tissue overlying the white of the eye) into a thickened growth, often progressing over the corneal tissue.  Typically if you remove the irritant (sun and wind exposure) by wearing sunglasses and using frequent artificial tears, the pterygium stops progressing.  Unfortunately these treatments won't reverse the growth that already occurred.

Treatments

If you have a pterygium, the only real treatment is to try to prevent progression.  That means:

• sunglasses or transitions; full time UV protection
• rewetting drops like Systane or Refresh Optive to combat dryness