A dermatoscope is a hand-held visual aid device that an individual or a doctor uses to examine and diagnose skin diseases and lesions like melanoma. This is a device that can also help an individual to examine the hair, scalp and nails.
A dermatoscope is a common device that you can find at a dermatologist’s office. In this particular guide, you will learn more about this device, how it works, what it does and much more.
What Does a Dermatoscope Device Do?
This is a popular hand-held imaging device that doctors use to examine an individual’s hair, nails or skin. It is also a device that can help diagnose specific conditions as it can help show more detail.
It does the following things:
- Examination: A dermatoscope uses light and magnification to assist a dermatologist in seeing how an individual’s skin looks in more detail. This device helps show the details in the skin’s outer layer that is not visible to the naked eye.
- Diagnosis: As a dermatoscope can help improve the doctor’s view of the skin, it can also help in the diagnosis of skin conditions like melanoma. As per a 2018 review, researchers found that with the help of dermatoscopes, treating melanoma is much more effective compared to a simple visual inspection of skin lesions.
Another review also found that a dermoscopy (the method that needs a dermatoscope) can effectively treat cancerous and noncancerous skin lesions or problems.
How Does a Dermatoscope Work?
A dermatoscope is a hand-held device with a light source and a magnifier. It mostly works as a magnifying glass.
- Magnifier
A basic dermatoscope helps magnify the view of the skin by at least ten times. A video dermatoscope can improve this to around 70 to 100 times more.
- Light
The light on this specific device can help illuminate your skin in a special way. It helps the doctor examine lesions without the light bouncing off oily or dry skin, making it more difficult to see.
- Pictures
This hand-held device can also take pictures as people use them. Doctors can look to examine these photos later.
What Occurs During a Dermatoscopy?
The procedure is called dermatoscopy, when a doctor uses this device to examine an individual’s skin. Initially, a doctor will apply some alcohol, gel or water to the patient’s skin, and after this, they will turn the light on the device and hold the lens of the device over the area of the skin they are examining.
Final Words
You can opt for a dermatoscopy if you want your skin, scalp, or hair to be examined. Visit a reputed clinic in your area and opt for this process that involves using a dermatoscope to check if there are issues in your skin, hair or scalp. The top experts can help check your skin, hair or scalp problems with the help of this device.