Over the years, I have written about the role of spectrum in dermatology. To sum up, I have stressed that dermatology depends on a careful analysis of individual skin types to decide how to best treat them. Dermatologists must be able to classify skin with respect to general appearance, texture, and other characteristics. Each such classification must carry some explanatory information.
The need for thorough reflection is best illustrated by considering the differing pressures in a patient’s area of skincare and skin inspection. The patient is much more focused on whether or not he is doing a good job than on the results. By focusing so much on the visual aspects of the examination, one’s true concern is often buried.
A major problem is the tendency of the patient to interpret his state of health through the prism of physical appearance. If he looks good, he is not likely to have health problems. If he looks unhealthy, it will only be because of something that was wrong with him.
A dermatology examination should be objective, looking for an objective assessment of the patient’s state of health. Proper reflection of a skin evaluation is highly dependent on how to obtain the information needed. Most people are comfortable with a layperson performing the exam.
Nevertheless, these examinations are a combination of subjective (and objective) observations that combine to form a holistic assessment of the skin’s state of health. This means the examination must come from within the professional as well as externally. The face is frequently the primary object, but there are many ways to learn about the skin.
When one has reflected on this skin examination, it becomes clear that the skin is basically made up of two types of cells, one of which is the skin’s own protein that is specifically the type that protects the body from the outside environment. One example of the examination is when one examines the face in a mirror in order to determine if the skin is healthy or sick. While there is a remarkable contrast between the two, it is easy to see the basic similarities. It is the other form of cells that make up the skin’s matrix that makes up the colors of skin.
Medical science has used many methods over the years to diagnose skin disease. Many of these include observing individuals for signs of health and disease, carefully studying skin surface characteristics, and/or performing microscopic imaging examinations.
Dermatology takes a different view. In the final analysis, it is the combination of proper observations of the skin’s surface that lead to the diagnosis of disease. Some people may call these types of “microscopic” examinations; others may say they are “proximal” in their observation of the skin.
Ultimately, the proper reflections of this examination take place inside the physician’s office. Physicians must learn to “see” the skin through a prism of reflecting samples. Aspects of the physical or chemical composition of the surface must be reflected on the reflective surface.
You can see the reflected samples as a series of shadow images at the back of the eye; this is called a “mirror image”. This process can often be used to demonstrate the validity of something as simple as a “physical examination” to a thorough assessment of health.
Applying this to examining the skin is a little tricky. People do not use the mirror image correctly and are not aware of it when they make reflections.
Reflections Dermatology can often be a part of an examination. If a physician uses a mirror image when examining a patient, this can sometimes give some information about a condition that is difficult to identify on the surface.