hey all can anyone help me with this, about 3 years ago i noticed these lumps on the outer white of my right eye and the inner white of my left kind of yellowy and went red occassionally, doctor told me it was some conjunctival thing i went through every bottle of eye drops off and over the counter to no avail. since then lumps appeared on inner white of right eye and a little on the outer white of my left, went to optometrist last year he told me it was a common thing all australians get to do with sun damage and not wearing hat or sunglasses outside as a kid. also said there was nothing i could do just to wear hat and sunnies always so it doesnt get worse. went back to docs told her what he said and she said thats stupid and got me referral to see optic surgeons at royal adelaide hospital. after telling them both stories they tell me its just dry eye and arent very concerned. they look horrible when they are flared up and this is most of the time, my eyes just look bloodshot and nothing helps, anyone got any ideas? thnx

Your optometrist was right (shame on your doctor for calling the opto stupid). I'm 99.9% positive you have pingueculae - search the net and you'll find thousands of references. They are indeed caused by dryness and sun damage, and are very common. The redness is due to inflammation. I have them in both eyes, but only the left was inflamed at one point. My optometrist suggested preservative-free moisture drops, lots of water, and a tablespoon of flax oil everyday. This brought the inflammation down in 4-5 days. 6 months later, it became inflamed again and stayed this way for two weeks. I got worried and went back to the opto; he gave me a prescription for mild steriod drops that nixed the redness with the first dose (didn't even have to take the full 3 day treatment). Good luck!

For your info, here's a brief description:
A pinguecula (pin gwe' cue la) is a benign, whitish or yellowish growth that forms on the conjunctiva. They usually grow near the cornea on the nasal side. Pingueculae (plural form of pinguecula) are thought to be caused by ultraviolet light and are most common among people who spend a great deal of time outdoors. This growth does not affect vision, but may cause irritation if it becomes elevated.

Signs and Symptoms
Pingueculae are harmless growths and rarely cause symptoms, just a yellowish, raised area on the conjunctiva. Sometimes there is irritation and scratchiness, dry eye, occasional inflammation of the conjunctiva and redness if the area becomes irritated.

Detection and Diagnosis
Pingueculae can often be seen with the naked eye; however, the doctor diagnoses the growth with a careful examination with a slit lamp microscope.

Treatment
Because of their benign nature, pingueculae rarely require treatment. Occasionally, the growth may become inflamed, causing irritation and dryness. The doctor may prescribe artificial tears for lubrication and mild anti-inflammatory medication to reduce swelling.

Aussie girl,

There are lots of surgeons in Australia who can excise these growths from your eyes. I had two on the two sides of my eyes on both eyes and had to have surgery to remove them.

Susan

Hello, I am a 24 yr old female and I have had a pinguecula in both eyes for a few years now. My eyes are also very dry, which I feel is partially due to the pinguecula because my problem started getting worse when the pingueculum did. However, the opthamologist I was seeing seems to disagree and not really care about all the agony this is causing me. He told me it would just come back and make my eye more dry. For the past year or so my eyes have been almost constantly irritated and the pingueculum are getting worse and worse. I have 2 plugs in each eye to try to increase the moisture, which has helped somewhat, but my eyes are still always irritated, imflamed, and tired. After seeing this doctor for a few months, paying $500 for plugs and putting drops in my eyes about every hour, I decided to do some research myself. On 3/28, I will be having the larger pinguecula removed at Harvard Eye Institute. The doctor there told me he thought it would make my eyes less dry and that with the graft procedure the reccurence rate is 1%. Im scared because I have doctors telling me different things, but I am confident that the doctors at Harvard Eye know what they are doing. All I know is that I cant go on any longer with my eyes in this condition. The downfall is that because it hasnt grown onto the cornea, its not covered by insurance, so I have to pay $2200, which I am financing. At this point, I'll pay anything. I agree with a lot of people on here that most doctors think that its only cosmetic, but I feel that if they had to deal with this, they would think otherwise (I even told the last dr that and he seemed offended). Anyway, I hope all goes well and I will keep anyone updated thats interested.

Hi Kayti - I think that's great you made the decision to do something about your pinguecula. I'm sure the surgery will go fine. I've heard good things about Harvard Eye and the procedure they use. Please let me know how things go. I live in Ca (SF Bay Area) and have often thought of making the drive down there to get an opinion from someone. I got a pinguecula a few years ago, but I don't seem to have any problems with redness, inflammation, or dryness. My ophthalmologist here thinks I'd be crazy to have it removed because it's so small. But once in a while it kind of bothers me knowing that it's there. I'm sure you understand what I mean. I'm sorry your ophth. hasn't been more sympathetic to your condition. That's just awful when they don't listen to you. I hope you get the relief you seek from having this surgery. Having dry, irritated eyes all the time is not fun! Okay, good luck tomorrow. I'm sure everything will work out great. Please let me know how you're doing, when you feel up to it.

Jen

Well my surgery is over and I am glad that I did it. If you are going to have it done I would definantly suggest taking time off work, because when I took the patch off this morning my eye was all black and blue and very red. But I am already noticing more moisture. I know that at Harvard Eye they offered to have me send pictures in to see if I would be a candidate, which may be easier for you since you are further away. As far as I know, the recurrence rate with the new procedure is pretty low, its just a question of whether you have the money to do it and the patience to have your eye look awful for awhile. For me, I felt like I didnt have a choice because of all the problems I was having. My eye feels only slightly irritated and a little painful, like someone socked me in the eye, but its really not that bad. My post op is on tuesday, so I will let you know how it goes then.

Hi Kayti - thanks for posting about your surgery. Hope you're healing fast and feeling well. You must be so glad the surgery is over with. How is your eye doing? Do you think the surgery helped the dryness, etc.? Maybe it's too early to tell. Good luck at your post op visit tomorrow. Let me know how you're doing when you get a chance. Bye!

Jen

My eye is looking better everyday now. It is becoming less red and more pink. The doctor said it looks great and a lot better than most other patients, which is good. He said its still too early to tell about the dryness, which i figured, because its still healing, but it definantly feels less irritated and annoying without that annoying lump! He said it usually takes about a month for the redness to go away and a few months for it to look "normal". Im really glad that I had it done, and would suggest that anyone consult with a doctor at Harvard or another reputable place if they are looking into it. Its really not as bad as some opthamologists make it out to be!