Skin is an organ a doctor can often assess from a photo. A rash, eczema, an insect bite or a small infection says a lot by its appearance alone, and a good photo together with your description is in many cases enough for a treatment decision. Here is what skin symptoms can be assessed in a chat, how to take a photo that actually helps, and when a skin symptom needs urgent care.
What can be assessed from a photo
From a photo and your history, a doctor can often assess, for example:
- a flare of atopic eczema or another eczema, and which cream treatment is needed
- contact dermatitis that appears where jewellery, a detergent or a plant has touched the skin
- hives, or urticaria: raised wheals that move around within hours
- insect bites and stings and their usual local reaction
- the expanding ring of redness after a tick bite, which is treated with antibiotics
- impetigo, especially in children
- the typical one-sided cluster of blisters along a nerve in shingles. If you suspect shingles on the forehead, nose or around the eye, see a doctor within 24 hours; eye pain or worsening vision needs urgent assessment.
- suspected fungal infection of the feet, groin or nails: a photo can raise the suspicion and help decide the next step, but a suspected fungal infection of the nails or groin generally needs a fungal sample before treatment
- acne and how to step up its treatment
The photo and your history help the doctor assess what is most likely going on and what the next step is. When the diagnosis is clear enough on that basis, the doctor can send a cream or, if needed, a course of medicine straight to the national Prescription Centre (Reseptikeskus) and give care instructions. How your data is handled is described in the privacy policy.
What is not assessed from a photo
Not everything should be resolved remotely. Moles and growing skin lesions are examined in person with a dermatoscope; a photo does not replace that. Likewise, a skin change that does not heal with weeks of treatment, a widespread rash of unknown cause and anything that comes with feeling generally unwell belong in a consulting room. The doctor will tell you so plainly.
How to take a useful photo
- Daylight by a window is best. Avoid flash and yellow lamp light, which distort colours.
- Take two photos: an overview showing where the change is and how large, and a sharp close-up.
- Hold the camera steady and focus on the skin, not the background. A blurred photo says nothing.
- Shoot straight on, not at an angle, and if useful add a comparison: the other hand, the other leg.
- Scale helps: a coin or a ruler in the picture shows the size.
- If redness is spreading, draw its edge with a pen on the skin and take another photo a few hours later. That shows the direction more clearly than any description.
- Alongside the photo, say when the change began, whether it itches or hurts, what has changed and what you have already tried.
Self-care for common skin symptoms
- Dry, itchy skin: emollient cream regularly, short lukewarm showers, fragrance-free washing products.
- Insect bite: a cool compress; for itching, an over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream or an antihistamine as the package leaflet directs. Do not scratch; broken skin easily becomes infected.
- Hives: an antihistamine; if wheals keep coming back, the cause is investigated with a doctor.
- Tick: remove it straight away with tweezers or a tick remover and watch the bite site for a few weeks.
A doctor's assessment is worthwhile if
- a rash does not ease with a week or two of self-care, or it spreads
- an expanding ring of redness more than five centimetres across appears around a bite site over days or weeks
- a skin change discharges pus, feels hot or comes with a fever
- a mole changes in size, colour or shape, or starts to bleed
- the rash began shortly after starting a new medicine
- you have diabetes and a wound on your foot is not healing
Go to the emergency department or call 112 immediately if
- redness is spreading fast within hours and comes with fever or chills: possible erysipelas or another deep skin infection
- a rash spreads rapidly over the whole body and you feel unwell
- blisters form or the skin peels off in sheets
- the rash comes with mucosal symptoms: sores in the mouth, red and painful eyes or symptoms in the genital area, especially after starting a new medicine
- there are small spots of bleeding under the skin that do not fade when pressed, together with fever
- suspected shingles comes with eye pain or worsening vision
- hives come with swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, shortness of breath or dizziness: this may be anaphylaxis, call 112
- the area around a bite or wound is extremely painful, swollen and dark
In these situations sending a photo is not enough. Go straight for care.
How Treat can help
In Treat you can attach photos to the conversation and describe your symptoms in your own words. A licensed doctor usually assesses the situation within minutes during service hours and tells you whether self-care is enough, whether a prescription cream or a course of medicine is needed, or whether the skin change should be examined in person. Treat is not an emergency service: with a rapidly spreading infection or difficulty breathing, call 112.
This article is general health information and does not replace an individual assessment by a doctor.