MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC PHOTOGRAPHY

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MEDICAL PHOTOGRAPHS are an important part of the dermatologic picture.

Diagnostic photographs help us discover what cannot be seen any other way. Just as an X-ray picture or laboratory tests confirms a diagnosis, medical diagnostic photographs help to determine and record the extent of disease.

Photographs taken with special film and lenses permit us to "see" beneath the skin surface, aiding in early detection and prevention of skin disease.

Photographic Fee: Unlike laboratory tests or X-Rays, insurance companies do not include medical photographs in their reimbursement plans.

ULTRAVIOLET PHOTOGRAPH "AN INSIDE LOOK AT AGING"

Skin ages from the inside out. The split image photograph of a woman in her early twenties, shows you how, dramatically. On the left side, you see her face as it is in sunlight. On the right side, a special photograph technique (diagnostic ultraviolet photography) zooms through several skin layers, illuminating protective pigment. The white areas on the chin, tip of the nose ad patches of the cheek are areas where the sun has already destroyed some of the protective melanin. Once the melanin has been damaged, ultraviolet can penetrate skin more easily, and damage the tissues that give your skin its support and firm look. Damage does not show up at once; it's cumulative, building up little by little. Norman Goldstein, M.D., F.A.C.P., Associate Professor of Dermatology at the University of Hawaii, who helped develop the use of diagnostic ultraviolet photography -- and a growing number of other dermatologists -- are using the technique to diagnose how much sun damage has already occurred, and to demonstrate to patients just how damaging the sun can be.