The common questions.
Exams, contacts, prescriptions, insurance, dilation, kids, and what to do about an eye emergency — sorted before you call.
For most adults, once a year. Children should have their first exam before kindergarten, and anyone with diabetes, a strong prescription, or a family history of eye disease may need to be seen more often. A comprehensive exam checks far more than your prescription — it’s a health check for your eyes.
A standard eye exam gives you a glasses prescription. Contacts sit on your eye, so they need their own measurements — corneal curvature, lens design, and a trial to confirm fit and comfort. That’s why a contact-lens fitting is a separate service with its own fee, and it produces a separate contact-lens prescription.
Always. By law and by principle, your prescription is yours. We release your glasses and contact-lens prescriptions to you after your exam, and you’re free to purchase frames or contacts from us or anywhere you like. We’d love to show you the boutique — but there’s never any pressure.
Vision plans (like VSP or EyeMed) cover routine exams, glasses, and contacts. Medical insurance covers eye-health conditions — dry eye, diabetic eye exams, infections, injuries, and urgent care. Some visits use one, some use the other, and occasionally both. We sort out which applies and verify your coverage before you’re charged.
With most vision plans, a routine comprehensive exam is covered in full or carries a small copay. Self-pay, a comprehensive exam starts at $145 and a children’s exam at $125. Contact-lens fittings carry a separate fee from $75. We confirm your exact cost before your appointment — no surprises.
Sometimes. Dilation gives the doctor the best view of your retina and is recommended for diabetic and certain comprehensive exams. We also offer wide-field retinal imaging that can reduce the need to dilate in many cases. If you are dilated, bring sunglasses — vision is blurry up close and light-sensitive for a few hours, so a ride is a good idea.
We recommend a first comprehensive exam before kindergarten, around age 4 or 5, even if a school screening was passed — screenings miss a lot. Infants and toddlers can be seen earlier if there’s a concern. Our pediatric exams are gentle, game-like, and built for little attention spans.
Call our urgent line right away; we keep same-day slots open for foreign bodies, sudden pain, infections, flashes, floaters, and injuries. Most eye emergencies are handled faster and far more affordably in our office than in an ER. For severe trauma or sudden vision loss, go to the nearest emergency room.