Get Under Your Skin with Tech
Over the last few weeks we’ve learnt that skin of colour patients are slower at presenting to health professionals with concerns about moles and lesions. We’ve also learnt that there is a lack of awareness and action when it comes to checking the skin for changes.
So, the question that goes through our minds at Black Skin Directory is how can we make it easier for you to keep an eye on your skin? With the busy lives we lead it's easy to push health matters to the back burner, but we believe that with our increased reliance on technology, we can harness new and sophisticated Apps to help us keep on top of skin health changes.
Here are two of our favourite apps that enable you to take pictures, store and track changes to your skin over a period of time. All with the aim of getting you in front of the doctor as soon as you spot any dubious changes.
miiskin
A straightforward app developed in Denmark that allows you to take a photo of your skin or mole, then reminds you at a set interval (monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, yearly) to take another photo to compare. This allows you to curate a visual digital diary of your skin or mole. If you spot any changes you can then arrange a visit to your GP.
Miiskin will not diagnose skin cancer or forward your images to a health professional for further checking. What it does is that it allows you to take a proactive and empowering approach to managing your skin health and any changes that may occur.
SkinVision
This popular app also allows you to take a picture of your skin or mole. It uses a computer algorithm to assess your photo within 30 seconds and provides a low, medium or high risk assessment based on details you provide when you initially download the app.
If there is nothing suspicious, a reminder is set for your next set of photos. A high risk assessment is reviewed by a team dermatologist free of charge and next steps will be advised.
It is important to bear in mind.......
......that an app does not replace a visit to your doctor or dermatologist to medically evaluate your skin or mole. These apps are tools to enable you to develop the habit of checking your skin frequently. We recommend that an app purely be used only to track any changes to your skin and set reminders to prompt you to take follow up pictures. A skin cancer diagnosis can only be made by a medical professional.