A few years ago, I had an appointment to see a highly recommended dermatologist about some hormonal chin acne. I remember that when I called to book the appointment, the earliest one I could get was in a month, and even though the appointment was at an inconvenient time of day for me, and I didn’t want to wait that long, I still took the appointment because I was desperate to see someone.
Anyway, I’d forgotten that on the day of my appointment, the street in front of my house was going to be repaved. I realized it when I walked outside and saw huge construction vehicles everywhere. I couldn’t even pull my car out of the garage.
Uh, oh.
I remember calling the dermatologist’s office up and telling them, “I’m very sorry about this, and I know it’s last minute, but I’m having transportation issues. I won’t be able to make it today. Is there any chance I could get on the list to see the doctor within the next two weeks if someone happens to cancel?”
My chin acne situation had gotten terrible by that point, and I didn’t want to wait another month for a new appointment.
The receptionist just started straight-up laughing at me. Laughing at me. Geez, I thought, was I ever going to see this doctor?
Eventually, I did, but it took a very long time. Seriously, it was like three months before I actually got in, and when you have horrible hormonal chin acne, that’s an eternity.
This is why the idea of online dermatology services like YoDerm seem really appealing to me.
I didn’t know this until recently, but it’s a thing now. You can see a dermatologist online. You don’t even have to go to an office!
Take YoDerm, for instance. It’s an online dermatological service specializing in three issues — acne, wrinkles and lashes (Latisse). Instead of visiting their doctors in person in an office, you consult with them online.
You hop on their site, fill out your medical information, snap a few pictures of your face and pay $59 for a consultation. Then a board-certified dermatologist reviews everything, makes a diagnosis based on your pictures and info, and outlines a treatment plan. If it involves a prescription, they send it to a nearby pharmacy for you to pick up.
In most cases, they’re able to do this within 24 hours, so it’s fast. And convenient. You don’t even have to leave your couch.
If something like this had been available a few years ago when I was desperate to see a dermatologist for my acne, I might’ve considered it, at least for a first opinion.
Still, I have reservations… I mean, you only have one face, and I’m a little nervous about being diagnosed without seeing someone in person. I guess I’m old-school like that. When I go to a dermatologist’s office (and I’ve seen a few), I like to interact with them and ask lots of questions.
I’m curious, though. Plus, $59 for a dermatology consult ain’t bad.
Would you consider doing an online dermatology appointment, or have you had one before? What do you think?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Happy Saturday, my friend. What are you up to?
Curology forever! $20/month,including prescription cream that they mail you.
I haven’t been happy with the service I’ve gotten from Curology – tho I’m sure it varies depending on the derm you get. They were minimally responsive to my specific questions, sending me cut and paste articles instead. I’m happy with the ease of use but my doctor experience stank.
I’ve been using Curology for awhile now and while nothing ever seems to REALLY work perfectly for my skin (including going to an actual dermatologist)… I have really loved the customized cream they made up for me.
To be honest I wouldn’t. Dermatology is like THE medical specialty that requires the doctor to actually take a good look at you with a magnifying glass, lol!
I could do an online consultation for my primary care doc, like to talk about migraine or something like that, but I don’t think a photo is accurate enough for a dermatologist to make a proper diagnosis. Maybe for a follow up, but not for a first visit. I mean, the extent of discoloration, texture, swelling, etc, won’t be very visible on a picture unless you have pro photography equipment at home. Just my opinion!
What she said! Exactly my thoughts 🙂 When we first had to see a dermatologist here in Switzerland for my husband (he had a suspicious birth mark) he suggested we just take a picture and send it to him so he could make an assessment. We just thought what so strange. This kind of stuff you need to see up close! So we demanded a face-to-face appointment.
Hi Lulle,
You raise an excellent point about the problem with basing a diagnosis or treatment on someone’s photograph. To be honest, I’ve seen more poor and distorted photos posted online than good ones. Would I want a doctor recommending treatment or prescribing medication based on what might quite possibly be an inaccurate photo? Absolutely not.
I might use the internet to ask a question of a dermatologist who is already treating me, but I’d never use it as the first step. Karen, while you might be focused on chin acne, there could be other problems at work that a dermatologist would be able to identify by giving your skin a thorough examination.
Good question… I think I am such a traditionalist that I probably would not do it unless I was desperate… Especially if it is acne and scarring stuff on my face. However, I live in London and it can take forever until you see a specialist here, so waiting might make more harm. Time is an important factor, but I would try to avoid it. Hope you have a great Saturday Karen – we are relaxing at home, so loving it!
Actually, for uncomplicated acne, wrinkles, and lash growth, it makes complete sense to me. Doctors are very risk-averse, they’re very unlikely to prescribe anything that could be harmful. And it’s a total pain in the neck to wait a long time and pay a lot of money to get a prescription for a retinoid for your wrinkles or Latisse for your lashes. There are many parts of the world where doctor visits for more serious issues are impractical, there are actually much more complicated things going on with remote/internet medicine (like surgeries where the expert doctors from far away consult over the internet during the procedure). I don’t think it will work in our litigious society for complicated issues, though. If you acne doesn’t respond to the first-, second-, or third-line treatments, you’ll probably need to see someone in person, and at that point you might wish that you’d done that first… but I actually think it will work fine most of the time.
I don’t know. The wait time is so bad in the military I might consider it.
I’m not sure – the hermit in me loves the idea, but I also would be a little nervous about the idea of the doc not being able to really see the texture or even the actually issues as well as in person. That said, I have Kaiser insurance, which for the most part I love – but getting a referral and an actual appointment to see a specialist like a dermatologist is difficult. So, for $59 I might consider it!
I might do this for a second opinion, like if I went to a dermatologist in person and wanted to confirm his/her diagnosis or opinion! I don’t think I’d do it as my only source of dermatological services though.
It depends on how severe the problem is. If it’s not too severe then maybe. If it were low cost I would use it as a first opinion until I could get to a dermatologist’s office.
I would maybe do this in the future for my acne, but $59 is a bit much.
Oooh gosh no. Sorry, I wouldn’t ever be able to do that.
I’m a veterinarian, and the amount of terrible internet advice/practice out there is terrifying. The thought of making a dermatological diagnosis without physically seeing the patient (and this is me thinking about a dog here, not my own face) is just something I could never be on board with. Seeing the patient in person allows swabs or samples to be taken aseptically, pertinent questions to be asked, and assessment of the skin’s response to stimulation. I’d be very wary. Even more so for my own visage!!
From the dermatologists point of view-man, I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes. A much higher chance of getting it wrong, and think of the litigation!!
For acne, aging and lashes, sure. My daughter who has a hard time getting time off from work for doctor’s appointments has been seeing an online dermatologist for her hormonal acne. It’s helped a bit but hasn’t really been successful. They’ve gotten to the point where they’ve said she needs accutane, but they are not able to prescribe that online.
It sounds interesting, but I would want a doctor to see my condition face to face. The online thing might end up being less convenient because the doctor might misdiagnose something that may have gotten the right diagnosis at a face to face appointment. So, you might end up going to a doctor’s office anyway.
I guess because my skin “problems” aren’t severe (would like smaller pores and fewer wrinkles), I wouldn’t hesitate. Of course, we also live in the sticks so nearly everything is done online. I wouldn’t want an online diagnosis for a surgical procedure but, for some face cream that may help or may break me out, I’d totally be willing to take the risk. I do that with facial products every time I shop at Sephora. Though, in fairness, I’ve never visited a dermatologist so I may be misunderstanding what they do.
I can’t get an accurate photo of my skin on my phone. It is hard to see the actual texture and stuff and I don’t feel that my phone or tablet cam can capture my skin well enough for a dermatologist to accurately be able to diagnose issues.
When I was at the derm in person they were looking at my skin with magnifying glasses and special lights so comparing that to a slightly fuzzy phone pic or video chat in my not-professionally-lit living room just doesn’t compute for me. If it was a situation where I already knew what the issue was and the doc just needed a quick glance to confirm it then I can see how that could save time & money though. I suppose it is when you’re having an unknown problem that requires examination that I don’t get how this could work out.