Should I Schedule a Sick Visit Even If My Child Doesn't Have a Fever?

Sometimes, it’s easy to know when your child needs to visit their pediatrician. For most parents, fever indicates that a doctor's visit is in order. But what if your child doesn’t have a fever, but still isn’t feeling or acting normally? Should you still schedule a sick visit? The answer isn’t always so clear.

At One World Pediatrics, Jag Ambwani, MD, FAAP, Dolly Ubhrani, MD, April Mieswinkel, NP, Richard Lam, FNP, Gabrielle Yates, CPNP-PC, and Audrey M. Merrill, MD, provide patient-centered medical treatment including sick visits to help patients feel better quickly. 

In this post, learn what issues are addressed during sick visits, so you can decide if you need to schedule one for your child.

Sick visits: The basics

Perhaps the best way to understand what constitutes a sick visit is to first understand what a well visit comprises. 

Generally speaking, well visits are office visits focused on preventive care. Examples include annual physicals, sports physicals, vaccine visits, and other visits for routine screenings and evaluations aimed at helping your child stay well.

On the other hand, sick visits can include just about any visit that’s not part of your child’s regular healthcare routine. While well visits focus on prevention, sick visits aim to diagnose specific symptoms and treat underlying issues to restore your child’s health and wellness.

When to schedule a sick visit

A fever is definitely a good reason for a sick visit, especially if the fever is high, lasts more than a day or two, gets worse, or is accompanied by other symptoms, like vomiting or severe headache. But that’s just one reason to schedule a sick visit with our team.

You can also schedule sick visits for issues like:

• Earaches
• Sore throat
• Allergies
• Asthma symptoms
• Pink eye (conjunctivitis)
• Hives or rashes
• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Belly pain
• Headaches
• Constipation or other changes in bowel habits
• Loss of appetite
• Lethargy
• Insect bites
• Unusual changes in a child’s mood, sleep patterns, or behavior
• Persistent cough

For kids, even mild symptoms can quickly lead to more serious complications. Scheduling a sick visit is the best way to find out what’s wrong and to get the most appropriate care — as well as a good dose of peace of mind.

During your child’s sick visit, we ask about their symptoms and when they began. We perform an exam and evaluations based on your child’s needs, recommending treatments that could include over-the-counter or prescription medicine, rest, hydration, diagnostic imaging, lab tests, or follow-up visits with our team or with other specialists. 

We also let you know what you can do as a parent to help your child feel better as quickly as possible.

Sick care when your child needs it

In addition to scheduled office visits, we also offer walk-in appointments and after-hours care, as well as telemedicine visits, to make getting care for your child easy and convenient. To learn more about sick visits or to schedule a visit for your child, request an appointment online or over the phone with the team at One World Pediatrics in Longwood, Florida, today.