Causes

Although we do not know all the factors that are responsible for the development of a pterygium in the first place, our research group has identified an extremely strong relationship with how much sunlight one is exposed to in the first 10 years of life, and also to ongoing sunlight exposure after that time.

For example, a child growing up for the first 10 years of life in Queensland has a 40 times increased risk of developing a pterygium compared to a cousin growing up for the same period of time in Victoria. This is as a result of the increased sunlight exposure in Queensland compared to Victoria.