The development of pterygium is associated with environmental factors, as is recurrence. What are the risk factors for pterygium recurrence? The primary one is UV irritation. It is important to avoid exposure to UV rays after pterygium surgery. You can wear UV-protective glasses in the sun. Avoid rooms where UV lamps are on, and especially don’t look directly into them. Also don’t watch people welding without wearing a protective mask. The next thing is all kinds of sand, dust, and smoke irritation. I have performed hundreds of pterygium surgeries with only 2 recurrences. 1 of those cases was an early patient of mine, a lamb kebab seller, who didn’t tell me before surgery. The surgery went well, but immediately after the surgery he went to sell lamb kebabs and grilled them himself. It was so smoky that it recurred in less than 2 months. In another case, a later patient, I carefully told him to avoid smoke stimulation after surgery, but he had 3 big smokers among his colleagues in the same office, and he could not get out of the work environment for a while. He quit smoking himself, but the stimulation of secondhand smoke made him relapse at 3 months after surgery. Finally, dryness is also a risk factor.