Corneal surgery is a type of eye surgery that is performed to treat various corneal diseases and conditions. There are several types of corneal surgery, including:

• Pterygium removal: A pterygium is a growth of tissue that can occur on the cornea, and this surgery involves removing the growth and repairing the affected area.
• Phototherapeutic keratectomy: This procedure uses a laser to remove damaged or diseased tissue from the cornea, and it is often used to treat corneal scars or other types of corneal damage.
• Corneal abrasions: A scratch on the cornea is usually caused from a physical injury or foreign body. This can cause a gritty sensation in the eye, pain, redness, light sensitivity and weeping. It is important that you do not try to remove a foreign body from your eye on your own, you should seek medical assistance. If your ophthalmologist is not available, go directly to emergency at your nearest hospital. Foreign bodies or physical injuries to the cornea can cause infection and therefore it is important to seek specialist advice as soon as you feel any symptoms.
• Corneal dystrophies: There are many types of corneal dystrophies, including: 

  • Keratoconus: The cornea becomes progressively thinner and protrudes, causing distortion of your vision. To find out more about keratoconus, click here

  • Fuchs’ dystrophy: This is categorised by swelling up and thickening of the cornea due to the endothelial cells not functioning correctly any more. Symptoms include blurry vision, which is usually worse in the mornings, glare and halos, cloudy corneas and sensitivity to light.

  • Lattice dystrophy: It causes material to build up on the cornea in a lattice (grid) pattern, causing corneal erosion. This can cause pain in the eye, a foreign body sensation, blurry vision, watery eyes and light sensitivity. It usually begins in childhood and treatment includes eye drops, ointments and special eye patches and contact lenses. If there is severe scarring on the cornea, laser or a corneal transplant may be required.