Providing Comprehensive Care for Your Dry Eyes
If your eyes often feel dry, gritty, or like something’s stuck in them, you might be dealing with dry eye disease. This common condition affects how your eyes produce and maintain moisture, and many of us take it for granted until it starts impacting our daily comfort.
At Spectrum Eyecare & Eyewear, we know how frustrating dry eye can be. During your comprehensive eye exam, we’ll help with a thorough diagnosis and a range of proven, effective treatment options tailored to your needs.
Schedule an eye exam with us today.
Symptoms of Dry Eye
Dry eye can feel different for everyone. Some people notice a burning or stinging feeling, while others experience watery eyes or blurred vision that worsens as the day progresses.
You may also feel like you need to blink more often or take breaks from reading or working on the computer. Common symptoms include:
- Dryness or grittiness
- Watery eyes
- Blurred vision
- Redness or irritation
- Sensitivity to light
- The feeling of something in your eye
Types & Causes of Dry Eye
Dry eye is usually caused by an imbalance in your tear film. You need the right amount of tears, and they need to have the right balance of water, oils, and mucus to stay comfortable.
There are 2 types of dry eye. Aqueous-deficient dry eye is when your eyes don’t produce enough tears. Evaporative dry eye occurs when your tears evaporate too quickly.
Meibomian gland dysfunction is a common cause of dry eye. When the oil-producing glands that line your eyelids get blocked or stop working properly, your tears evaporate too quickly, and your eyes become dry, irritated, and inflamed.
What Makes Dry Eye Worse?
If you’re already prone to dry eye, there are things that can make it more noticeable on a daily basis, including:
- Wearing contacts
- Indoor heat or air conditioning
- Wind, smoke, or a dry environment
- Autoimmune conditions, like Sjögren’s syndrome
- Certain medications, like antidepressants or antihistamines
- Long hours of screen time, which reduces how often you blink
- Hormone changes, including birth control use, menopause, pregnancy, and hormone replacement therapy
During your comprehensive eye exam, we’ll discuss your lifestyle and environment to identify what might be making things worse.
How We Diagnose Dry Eye
Getting dry eye therapy right starts with an accurate diagnosis. We use different technologies to help pinpoint what’s causing your symptoms and how your tear film is functioning.
- Dyes & staining: We use special eye-safe dyes to check for inflammation or dry patches on the surface of your eyes.
- Automated tear breakup time (TBUT): Measures how quickly your tears evaporate, giving us insight into tear film stability.
- Subjective TBUT: A manual version of the automated TBUT, where we observe tear breakup patterns using a slit lamp.
- Meibography: Imaging that shows the structure of your meibomian glands, helping us detect blockages.
Treatments Tailored to You
We take a customized approach to dry eye therapy. What works for one person might not be right for another.
After identifying the cause of your symptoms and guiding you through the diagnostic stage, we’ll recommend a treatment plan designed around your eyes and lifestyle.
We may combine some of the following treatments:
OptiLIGHT by Lumenis is an FDA-approved intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment designed specifically for dry eye related to inflammation and meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). It gently delivers pulses of light around the eyelids to help reduce inflammation, unclog oil glands, and improve tear film stability.
Patients often notice improvements in both eye comfort and clarity. It’s quick, noninvasive, and typically part of a series of treatments.
The Endymed PURE radiofrequency (RF) heats the tissue around your eyes, stimulating the meibomian glands to work more effectively. This warming effect encourages oil flow and improves gland function, which helps prevent your tears from evaporating too quickly.
RF is comfortable and relaxing, making it an excellent option for people with stubborn meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). It can also improve skin tone around the eyes, making it both functional and rejuvenating.
Zocular Zest is a gentle but powerful in-office eyelid cleaning treatment. It removes biofilm, debris, and bacteria that can build up along the lash line and contribute to dry eye and blepharitis.
The procedure uses an okra-based gel and a micro-sponge applicator to deeply clean and gently exfoliate the eyelids without irritation.
iLux provides targeted relief by applying both heat and compression directly to the eyelids to treat blocked meibomian glands.
It’s a 12-minute, in-office procedure that warms the glands to an ideal temperature, then gently expresses them to restore oil flow. By clearing the blockages, iLux helps improve tear quality and reduce symptoms.
BlephEx is a quick, in-office treatment that removes bacteria, debris, and biofilm from the eyelid margins using a soft, spinning micro-sponge. Think of it like a deep clean for your lash line, where a lot of inflammation-causing buildup tends to hide.
This cleaning can significantly reduce symptoms, especially in people with blepharitis or chronic irritation. It’s safe and comfortable and can be repeated regularly as part of your dry eye maintenance plan.
Omega-3 fatty acids can support healthy tear production and can help reduce inflammation in the eyes. We’ll recommend quality supplements known to benefit eye health, sourced from trusted brands that meet clinical standards.
Adding omega-3s to your daily routine can enhance your body’s natural tear film and improve long-term comfort.
Warm compresses are an easy, at-home way to encourage oil flow from the meibomian glands. Regular use can soften hardened oils and help the glands work more efficiently.
These masks provide consistent heat and are reusable, making them a convenient part of your dry eye care routine. They’re great for daily maintenance and can support the benefits of in-office treatments.
Daily eyelid hygiene is a simple but important way to manage dry eye, especially when blepharitis is involved. We offer products that help clean the eyelid margins gently and effectively.
These products help reduce bacteria and inflammation while keeping the area around the glands clear. Incorporating lid hygiene into your daily routine can go a long way in keeping symptoms under control.
Eyelid sprays offer a soothing and hydrating option for patients who find drops challenging to use. These sprays help stabilize the oil layer of the tear film and relieve inflammation around the eyelids.
They’re easy to apply—just spray onto closed eyes—and are especially helpful for people with sensitive eyes or those on the go.
Prescription eye drops are often recommended when over-the-counter options aren’t enough to control inflammation or improve tear quality. These drops can help your eyes produce better-quality tears and reduce redness or irritation.
Our eye drop options are tailored to address different layers of the tear film or specific symptoms like redness, burning, or blurry vision. We’ll guide you toward the drops that best suit your needs.
Intense pulsed light (IPL) is a light-based therapy that targets inflammation and stimulates healthy oil flow from the meibomian glands. It’s especially effective for dry eye related to rosacea or blepharitis.
IPL treatments help reduce redness, improve tear stability and oil flow, and can enhance long-term eye comfort.
Meibomian gland expression is an in-office procedure that gently applies pressure to the eyelids to clear blockages in the meibomian glands. It’s often done after warm compresses or heat-based treatments.
By manually expressing the glands, we help restore the flow of natural oils needed to keep your eyes properly lubricated. It’s a straightforward but effective way to improve comfort, especially for those with persistent meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) symptoms.
Helping You Manage Your Dry Eye Symptoms
Dry, irritated eyes don’t have to be your new normal. We’re here with the care, tools, and support to make dry eye a thing of the past.
Don’t let dry eye slow you down—contact us to schedule your appointment today.
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Visit Our Fredericton Location
Fredericton
You can find us on the corner of Prospect and Hanwell, right across from Riverview Ford. While coming up Prospect, look out for the fun mural on the side of the building!
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- 550 Prospect Street
- Fredericton, NB E3B 6G9
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Minto
Visit us at the corner of Logue Road and Queen Street (one street back from Main) on Mondays and Wednesdays. We have plenty of parking available.
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Open Monday & Wednesday
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Address
- 253 Logue Road
- Minto, NB E4B 3XR
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Spectrum Eyecare & Eyewear
Fredericton Location
- 550 Prospect Street
- Fredericton, NB E3B 6G9
Spectrum Eyecare & Eyewear
Minto Location
- 253 Logue Road
- Minto, NB E4B 3XR
