Preparing for Your Visit

Examining a child's eyes takes a great deal of skill and care. While taking a temperature requires seconds, trying to determine your child's vision requires their cooperation and a lot of patience.

We can best examine your child when they are calm and comfortable. If your child is hungry or anxious, they will take much more time to relax and participate during the exam.

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You can prepare them by talking about the visit: we will have them look at some pictures or letters to check their vision and will use lights to look at their eyes. Some parents want to tell their child that eyedrops will be given at the exam, others feel it's best to let them know at the time we are about to instill the drops. Please feel free to emphasize - we do not give shots at our office!

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Please be aware that we dilate every child being seen for the first time. In the same way you would not want a cardiologist to check your pulse and blood pressure but ignore your heart sounds, Dr. Patel must fully examine your child's eyes to make sure that all is healthy at the first visit. She can usually tell you whether dilation will be necessary at the next examination.

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First examinations can last up to two hours, including check-in paperwork, checking vision for the first time, seeing the doctor for measurements, dilation (30 minutes of waiting for the drops to work), and the final portion of the examination.

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Follow-up visits can last from 15 minutes to one hour, depending on the extent of the examination needed.