This pandemic has really ramped up telederm across the country, so I thought I’d do a #tweetorial on how to send photos to a dermatologist.

Tips for patients and referring clinicians!

#dermtwitter #dermatology #medtwitter

First, lighting is key. I frequently get images with weird shadows or back lighting that make it very difficult to discern what’s going on.

Natural lighting is best.

Get rid of distractions that can impact the visual quality of the rash or lesion in the picture. Uniform neutral backgrounds are ideal. Remove jewelry. Keep patterned clothing out of the shot.

Hold the camera steady when taking the photo, and orient it parallel to the skin. Tap the screen on your phone to get the best focus.

A blurry rash image is probably about as useful as a CXR taken while a patient is wearing chain mail or something I dunno ask @DShadowgazer

Take photos from more than one viewpoint and from varying distances from the rash or lesion. Global patterns to rashes are sometimes just as helpful as the fine details on up close images.

Taking a few minutes to optimize the photo will really improve the quality of the consult you get. Obviously in person assessment is the ideal, but we can accomplish a lot with telederm!

For a nice summary of this topic, check out this page by @VisualDx

https://info.visualdx.com/l/11412/2020-03-31/6h4hdz

Finally, if you’re gonna text a pic to your dermatologist friend, please ask first!

It’s very awkward to open a text in public that’s just a photo of a rash on a toddler’s buttocks.