Skin Condition Diagnosis

You can take photos of the affected area using any camera as long as you can take a clear photo and upload it to the device you will be using to complete the assessment. Your phone camera will be suitable in most situations.

Please make sure the photos you submit:

• Are 2 different photos: One should be a close up of the symptoms and one should be taken further away, showing the area of your body the symptoms are affecting
• Are well lit
• Are not blurry

A doctor will send a message to your Superdrug Online Doctor patient account, which has an encrypted inbox where you can safely and discreetly communicate with our doctors. For privacy and security reasons, we never send medical information via text or email directly to you. We will send an email or text message to let you know your results are ready to view in your account.

Our doctors get back to you with diagnoses and treatment recommendations where appropriate within 1 working day.

If you send your assessment and photos Sunday to Thursday this means you should get a response within 24 hours. If you send them on a Friday or Saturday you may have to wait until Monday for a response.

We can diagnose a variety of different conditions from common skin conditions to STIs with visible symptoms.

Common skin conditions

As well as diagnosing STIs, our doctors can check for a range of other skin conditions, including:

• Cold sores
• Rosacea
• Acne
• Ringworm
• Psoriasis
• Eczema
• Impetigo
• Shingles
• Fungal infections like pityriasis versicolor
• Molluscum contagiosum (MSV)
• Sore or dry lips (angular cheilitis)
• Seborrhoeic dermatitis
• Hives or urticaria
• Perioral dermatitis
• Fordyce spots

STIs with visible symptoms

If you’ve had unprotected sex and you’re worried you might have a sexually transmitted infection, you could use our service. We can check photos of:

• Genital warts
• Genital herpes

Genital warts

Genital warts look like small skin coloured bumps. They can be flat or raised and can appear as single warts, or clusters of warts. If left untreated, the warts can spread across larger areas.

If you’ve had unprotected sex or sex with someone who has genital warts, and you get symptoms of genital warts yourself, you can use our diagnosis services. Our doctors will check photos of your symptoms and let you know if you might have genital warts or not.

If you do have genital warts, you can also order genital warts treatment online from us.

Genital herpes

If you’ve had unprotected sex with someone who has genital herpes, you may start to show symptoms if you’ve caught the infection. These might include tingling and itching. As your infection develops, you may get sores around your genitals, anus, and thighs. These sores look like raised pink patches of sore bumpy skin.

Our doctors can check photos of these sores to diagnose you with genital herpes and recommend genital herpes treatment if appropriate.

Once one of our doctors has checked your photos and diagnosed a skin condition where possible, they can then recommend appropriate treatment. We can offer the following skin condition treatment online:

• Cold sore treatment
• Rosacea treatment
• Acne treatment
• Psoriasis treatment
• Eczema treatment

We also offer cold sore test kits if you want to confirm your cold sore diagnosis.

Moles

We can’t offer online diagnosis of moles because it’s not possible to give an effective diagnosis without seeing the moles in person, with additional equipment, or with more knowledge about your personal history and health.