Check a skin concern
Take or upload one clear, close photo. You'll get a plain-English read of what it looks most consistent with, what usually helps, and whether you should be seen — usually in under a minute. No account, no questionnaire, no payment.
Your photo is stripped of camera data on your device, used for this reading, and then discarded. Nothing is saved unless you choose to attach it to a care request. Photos are never used to train models.
How Skin Checker works
- Your photo is checked on your device for sharpness, lighting and framing — a photo we can't read is refused rather than guessed at.
- A vision model describes only what is visible: colour, border, scale, distribution and lesion type, then shortlists candidate conditions from Ondoc's own dermatology reference.
- Ondoc's structured dermatology records for those candidates — and their important look-alikes — are retrieved, including the ones we do not treat online.
- A second, stronger model looks at the photo itself alongside that evidence. It can disagree with the shortlist, and it can only draw facts from the retrieved records.
- The result is validated against a fixed structure before you see it. No percentages, no invented doses, no lab or biopsy results.
What a photo can and can't settle
Several skin conditions look alike in a picture. Eczema and psoriasis overlap, a fungal rash can look like eczema, and a benign mole and an early melanoma can be hard to separate without dermoscopy. Skin Checker says so when the appearance can't decide, and names the features that would. Anything with fever, rapid spread, facial or airway swelling, or a changing pigmented spot goes to in-person care, not a photo.
What Skin Checker can look at
- Rashes, red or itchy patches and hives
- Acne, rosacea and other facial breakouts
- Eczema, dermatitis and dry, scaling skin
- Fungal rashes, ringworm and mild skin infections
- Scalp and hair concerns you can photograph, such as thinning, flaking or patchy loss
- Nail changes such as discolouration, thickening or lifting
- Moles and changing spots — described, then routed to in-person assessment rather than cleared
How to identify a rash from a photo
A rash is identified from four visible features, and a photo carries all of them better than words do: the colour and how it changes when the skin is stretched, the shape and border of the patches, the surface — smooth, bumpy, scaling, crusted or blistered — and the distribution across the body. A ring with a clearing centre suggests one family of causes, symmetrical patches in the elbow and knee creases another, and lines or streaks after contact with a plant another again.
For the clearest reading: use daylight rather than flash, hold the camera about 15–20 cm from the skin, fill the frame with the affected area, and keep it in focus. One sharp close photo is worth more than several blurred ones. Skin Checker refuses a photo it cannot read rather than guessing at it, and tells you what to change.
Common questions
- Is Skin Checker a diagnosis?
- No. It reads the photo and tells you what the appearance is most consistent with, plus other possibilities worth considering. A photo cannot replace an examination, and some conditions look nearly identical in a picture. If treatment is appropriate, an Ondoc clinician reviews your case before anything is prescribed.
- Do I need an account, insurance or payment to use it?
- No. You can check a skin concern anonymously and get your first result without signing in, paying or answering a questionnaire. You only sign in if you decide to start care or save the photo.
- What happens to my photo?
- By default nothing is kept. The photo is stripped of camera metadata on your device, used for the analysis, and then discarded. It is only stored if you explicitly choose to attach it to a care request, and then only inside your own medical record. Your photos are never used to train models and never given a public link.
- What can Ondoc treat online?
- Common skin conditions such as acne, eczema, contact dermatitis, rosacea, fungal rashes, hives and mild skin infections are routinely handled online. Anything that needs hands-on examination, a biopsy or urgent care is routed to in-person care instead — Skin Checker will say so.
- How much does dermatology care cost?
- A one-time visit is self-pay, we accept commercial insurance where it applies, and Dermatology Membership is $25 a month with 2 included eligible visits each month and $10 for additional eligible visits. Medication is billed by your pharmacy, not by Ondoc.
- Can I use it for a scalp, hair or nail concern?
- Yes, if you can photograph it clearly. Thinning, flaking, patchy hair loss, and nail discolouration, thickening or lifting are all read the same way as skin: visible features first, then likely possibilities and next steps. Anything that needs a scraping, culture or biopsy to settle is sent to in-person care.
- Is this an AI dermatologist?
- No. It is a photo reading tool that uses vision models plus Ondoc's own dermatology reference, and it returns possible matches rather than a diagnosis. A licensed Ondoc clinician — not the model — reviews your case and decides on any treatment.
- Can it tell me whether a mole is skin cancer?
- No, and it will not try. A photo cannot replace dermoscopy or a biopsy. When a pigmented spot is changing or has concerning features, Skin Checker describes what it sees and sends you to in-person assessment instead of reassuring you.