Technology is such these days, that you can just about diagnose yourself with a disease or condition by typing your symptoms into the computer and coming up with at least enough guidance to arm yourself with knowledge before heading to the doctor. However, in some cases, a trip to your Phoenix doctor sooner rather than later may be necessary to ensure that you don’t endanger your life through a wrong or limited diagnosis. Many conditions can worsen quickly without medical intervention, which is why it is important to get a doctor involved when you suspect something may be wrong.
A good example of this is in the field of dermatology, where smartphones now can apps that allow you to analyze certain conditions that may be indicative of more serious issues. For instance, there are some apps that can help to diagnose you with skin cancer by analyzing the lesions on your body and determining if they warrant more serious attention from your Phoenix doctor.
However, medical professionals are cautioning against using this as a form of medical advice or treatment, as your smartphone cannot be substituted for your dermatologist’s advice when it comes to lesions on the skin. In fact, using an app can be dangerous as the app can misrepresent the seriousness of the disease, causing you to delay in seeing your Phoenix doctor because you don’t believe the situation is as serious as it is.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has stated that these apps are merely meant to be educational in nature and not as a means of medical diagnosis. They aren’t actual medical devices, which is why it can be so dangerous to use them to diagnose medical conditions versus a visit to your Phoenix doctor. Dermatology can be a complicated science, and skin cancer run rampant turning life-threatening quickly.
However, there are upsides to this type of technology. For instance, someone living in a remote or rural area might be able to use the smartphone app to send a pic of a lesion to a dermatology expert to find out if a visit to a Phoenix doctor is necessary. For instance, there have been documented cases of people being diagnosed who might not otherwise have seen a Phoenix doctor otherwise. No matter how much they help though, smartphone apps to diagnose disease should never replace an in-person visit to the Phoenix doctor, particularly in the event of a potential diagnosis of a serious disease.
Family Practice Specialists Dermatology
There are few physician’s office across Arizona that offer dermatological services, but that’s just one of the many additional services that Family Practice Specialists has. We offer the most innovative technology and resources to treat any skin and dermatology cases. Call or visit our Phoenix offices today!
4350 E Camelback Rd Suite F100
Phoenix, AZ 85018
602.955.8700
“by Kandice Linwright”