What should you know about dermoscopy uses?

A dermatoscope gives a clinician a closer view of pigment, scale, vessels, surface texture, and follicle openings. It can help compare a spot with nearby skin, assess changing moles, examine facial pigmentation, and distinguish some warts, scars, rashes, and hair disorders from their look-alikes. The clinician still considers your history and performs a direct examination. Dermoscopy is a decision-support tool: it can make a lesion easier to assess, but it does not replace a biopsy when the diagnosis remains uncertain.

Bring a list of skin products and medicines, and mention recent sun exposure, pregnancy, immune conditions, previous skin cancer, or changes noticed in a lesion. Avoid covering the area with thick makeup or camouflage if your clinic asks you to attend with clean skin. If the clinician is monitoring a spot, keep notes about changes in size, colour, border, symptoms, or bleeding between visits. Never use the dermoscopic image as a reason to start or stop treatment without clinical advice.

Arrange a skin review for a new or changing mole, a persistent scaly patch, a sore that does not heal, unexplained pigment, or a lesion that repeatedly bleeds, crusts, itches, or hurts. Seek prompt advice for a rapidly changing mark or one that looks unlike your other spots. A dermatoscope may help organise the assessment, while sampling or removal may be considered when the clinical picture calls for it.

Ask what the dermatoscope showed, whether the lesion should be photographed or monitored, and which changes should trigger an earlier review. Ask whether a biopsy or removal is needed, what alternatives exist, and how the result will affect your care.