Dr. Amy Falk, MD

10/31/2026

Your child comes home with a bucket full of candy. Do you let them eat it, ration it, or quietly make half of it disappear? 🍬

Here's my take: Halloween candy doesn't have to be a battle.

One night of extra sugar won't undo your child's health. What matters is their eating habits the rest of the year. So let them enjoy some candy on Halloween without guilt. After that, a simple routine works well, like a piece or two with a meal or snack.

Try not to use candy as a reward (or veggies as a punishment). We want kids to have a healthy relationship with all foods.

Two safety notes: hard candy, gummies, and other sticky or round treats are choking hazards for kids under 4. And sticky candy loves to hang out on teeth, so brushing with fluoride toothpaste before bed matters even more this week.

Balance, not restriction. What's your family's candy tradition? Tell me in the comments! (At the Falk house, parents have a 30% "Candy Tax" for the trouble of taking them around the block! That's up to 30% of the best stuff that we might take to work and nibble on through the winter :)

10/30/2026

Open enrollment season is here! A quick tip from a pediatrician who has watched a lot of families figure this out. 👇

If your plan comes with a Health Savings Account, consider putting money into it. HSA dollars go in tax-free, grow over time, and come out tax-free for medical care, including visits at ReVision Wellness. This gives families freedom to seek care where they want to, instead of being stuck within a system.

You can use it for well checks, sick visits, and longer appointments for things like ADHD or anxiety. It's your money, and it stays with you year after year.

As always, check your plan details or ask your HR team which option fits your family best.

10/28/2026

Before your little ghosts and superheroes head out Saturday night, a few quick costume tips from your pediatrician! 🎃

Be seen. Trick-or-treating happens after dark, and costumes are often dark too. Reflective tape on the costume or candy bag, plus a glow stick or flashlight, helps drivers see your kids.

Check the fit. Costumes that drag on the ground are a tripping hazard when kids are running house to house. If there's a mask, make sure they can see clearly. Face paint is often the safer choice.

Keep props soft. Swords, wands, and pitchforks should be flexible, not sharp or rigid. For little ones, watch for small decorations that could be a choking hazard.

Stick to sidewalks. Halloween is one of the busiest nights of the year for kids on foot. Use crosswalks, and make sure younger kids have a grown-up along.

Spooky, not scary for the wrong reasons! Share this with a parent getting their kiddo ready for Saturday. 👻

10/26/2026

Something exciting is happening in healthcare, and I don't think enough people are talking about it. 💚

More and more employers are offering direct primary care as an employee benefit. The reason is simple: when people have a doctor they can actually reach, they use less of the expensive parts of the system. Fewer urgent care trips, fewer ER visits, and fewer small problems that grow because no one caught them early. That lowers costs for the employer and makes care better for the employee. I truly believe it's where healthcare is headed.

But here's the part I care about most: kids aren't small adults.

Children change quickly as they grow. Newborn checks, development, behavior, ADHD, anxiety, the 2 a.m. fever. Pediatrics is its own specialty, and families deserve someone trained specifically to care for their children.

I'm proud to be one of only three board-certified pediatricians in Wisconsin practicing direct care, and the only one outside a big city. Central Wisconsin families shouldn't have to drive to a big city for this kind of care.

If your workplace is exploring direct care, or already offers it for adults, I'd love for kids to be part of that conversation. Employers and HR teams can reach me at [email protected].

And parents: you can always use your HSA here, with or without an employer program.

10/23/2026

Did you know you can use your HSA card at ReVision Wellness? 💳

Your Health Savings Account was made for exactly this: paying for your child's care with pre-tax dollars. That means every visit costs you less than paying out of pocket.

No claims to file and no surprise bills. You see the price up front, swipe your HSA card, and you're done.

Questions about what's covered? Send us a message or visit www.revisionwellness.health.

10/01/2026

When I opened ReVision Wellness a year ago, I had one goal: to practice pediatrics the way I always believed it was meant to be practiced, with time, honesty, and real relationships with families.

It hasn't all been easy. There were days I wondered if I'd made the right call. Then there were the other days: a 45-minute visit where a worried parent finally felt heard, a teen who opened up because we weren't rushing, and a family who got the answer they needed without a surprise bill.

ReVision Wellness let me keep doing the work I love the way I believe it should be done. I'm deeply grateful to every family who trusted me this year, to Anovia for giving us a home, and to my own family for putting up with the late nights.

Year two, here we come. I have a feeling it's going to be a good one. 💙

09/16/2026

Fever, sore throat, cough, pink eye…and sometimes diarrhea? It sounds like your child caught three illnesses at once, but it could actually be adenovirus.

Adenovirus is really a family of viruses, and it can cause a surprisingly wide range of symptoms in kids.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics' Red Book, adenovirus can cause common cold symptoms, sore throat and tonsillitis, ear infections, and something called pharyngoconjunctival fever, essentially fever and sore throat along with conjunctivitis, or pink eye.

Certain adenoviruses can also cause gastroenteritis, meaning vomiting or diarrhea. Less commonly, adenovirus can cause illnesses such as croup, bronchiolitis, pneumonia, or even inflammation of the bladder.

For most otherwise healthy children, treatment is supportive: keeping them hydrated, managing fever and discomfort, and giving them time to recover.

And because adenovirus can spread through respiratory secretions and contaminated hands and surfaces, good handwashing and cleaning frequently touched objects can help limit transmission.

The children we worry more about are young infants, immunocompromised children, or kids who develop signs of more serious illness, because severe adenovirus infections can occasionally occur in these groups.

So if your child isn't drinking well, is having trouble breathing, seems unusually sleepy or ill, or you're concerned about how they're doing, call your pediatrician.

09/08/2026

If your child's bedroom looks like broad daylight at 8 p.m. this summer, blackout curtains might be one of the simplest sleep tools you're overlooking.

During the summer and early fall, longer daylight hours can make bedtime tough, especially for younger kids whose bedtime arrives well before sunset.

That's because our sleep-wake cycles are strongly influenced by light and darkness. Darkness helps create an environment that supports our body's natural sleep signals, including melatonin. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a dark sleeping environment as one way to support healthy sleep.

So yes: blackout curtains can absolutely be helpful, especially if your child's room gets a lot of evening light, early-morning sunshine, or bright outdoor lighting. AAP guidance even specifically suggests heavy or blackout curtains when light is bothering a teen's sleep.

But blackout curtains aren't magic.

The bigger picture still matters: a consistent bedtime and wake time, a calming bedtime routine, a comfortable room temperature, and getting screens out of the bedroom are all important pieces of healthy sleep.

And don't make the entire day dark. Morning and daytime exposure to natural light helps reinforce your child's circadian rhythm too.

So if later sunsets are wrecking bedtime? Blackout curtains are a reasonable, and pretty simple, thing to try.

Send a message to learn more

09/02/2026

Your child wakes up with a pink, goopy eye. So… are they contagious for 24 hours? Three days? A week? The answer is: it depends on what's causing the pink eye.

"Pink eye," or conjunctivitis, isn't one single illness.

If it's allergic conjunctivitis, it isn't contagious at all.

If it's caused by a virus—which is very common in school-aged children—it can spread while your child is having symptoms. Think of viral pink eye a little like the common cold: kids may actually be contagious before you even realize what's going on.

And here's something parents are often surprised to hear: antibiotic eye drops don't treat viral pink eye or make it less contagious. Adenovirus, a common cause of viral conjunctivitis, can even remain contagious for quite a while.

Bacterial conjunctivitis is different and may sometimes need antibiotic drops, depending on the situation.

So does every child with pink eye need to stay home until they've had drops for 24 hours? Not necessarily. School and daycare policies vary, but AAP parent guidance notes that many cases are viral and shouldn't automatically require antibiotics or prolonged exclusion.

Your best defense? Lots of handwashing, avoid sharing towels and pillows, and try to keep those little hands away from the eyes.

If you're unsure what type your child has, that's a great reason to check in with your pediatrician.

Send a message to learn more

08/13/2026

If your child only complains that their legs hurt at bedtime, but they're running around perfectly during the day, it may not be what you think.

Parents often worry that nighttime leg pain means something serious, but many children experience what's commonly called growing pains.

Despite the name, we don't actually know that they're caused by growth. What we do know is that they're common in young children, especially between the ages of about 3 and 12.

Growing pains usually happen in the evening or at night, often after an active day. They're typically felt in both legs, especially the calves, thighs, around the knees, and they're gone by morning.

Kids with growing pains don't limp. They don't have swollen joints. And they're able to run, jump, and play normally during the day.

Gentle massage, stretching, a warm heating pad, or an age-appropriate dose of pain medicine if needed can often help them feel better.

But here's when it's worth calling your pediatrician.

If the pain is only in one leg, causes a limp, wakes your child every single night, comes with swelling, redness, fever, weight loss, or continues into the daytime, that's not a typical pattern for growing pains and deserves a closer look.

Most growing pains are completely harmless, but knowing what is and isn't normal can help parents know when to seek medical advice.

Send a message to learn more