I am extremely disappointed with this appointment and left feeling rushed, dismissed, patronised, and no further forward.
I paid £185 for this consultation using my Christmas money, specifically because after 4–5 months of ongoing, extremely painful growing raised areas on my scalp, and it affecting my day to day life and sleeping. I was hoping for proper i...
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I am extremely disappointed with this appointment and left feeling rushed, dismissed, patronised, and no further forward.
I paid £185 for this consultation using my Christmas money, specifically because after 4–5 months of ongoing, extremely painful growing raised areas on my scalp, and it affecting my day to day life and sleeping. I was hoping for proper investigation so I could finally understand what is happening and treat it appropriately. Instead, no dermoscopy was used, no swabs were taken, and no biopsies were even considered. They were actually declined. I was told swabs are only done if skin is open and oozing, which does not reflect standard dermatology practice. And that a biopsy would be useless in my case?
I have already been using over the counter treatments and emollients for months without improvement, yet the only option offered was a £50 prescription emollient on top of the £185 consultation fee. I declined this, as I already have emollients at home and would far rather have spent money on further investigation than on a cream I’ve effectively already been using. With new, growing, and genuinely painful lesions, an emollient does not feel like an adequate or thoughtful response. He seemed more distracted with the problems going on in his personal life and working out how to use the system.
I was repeatedly told “there’s nothing there.” Many of the symptoms are on my scalp, which is difficult to assess visually due to having a lot of hair. I had photos ready to show to demonstrate how these areas look when visible, but around 10 minutes into the consultation it was already clear that my concerns were not going to be meaningfully explored. The appointment felt scripted rather than responsive to my individual symptoms.
There was little attempt to explore my history, except for anxiety and depression, of course. Standard practise paying to see a dermatologist.
Caring more about my history of anxiety and depression and if I am receiving any care for that, than actually listening to my symptoms. That also includes no questions about UV exposure. Had he asked, I would have made him aware of my high uv exposure, as I spent 15 years living in sunny Spain as a child and very rarely wore any SPF protection and very regularly used tanning oils, he might have then also taken me a tiny bit more seriously. Perhaps not.
I fully respect that the clinician has far more medical knowledge than I do. However, I am the one living in my body, and I know when something does not feel normal for me. The pain from these raised areas on my scalp is unlike anything I have experienced before, I have had skin infections, eczema before and this does not in any way shape or form feel like that. The pain in the raised areas is a deep, intense tingling pain that is extremely uncomfortable and very real, even if it is not immediately obvious on visual inspection. However if he had done a swab or biopsy and the results confirmed it was either infection, eczema whatever the result, I would have been delighted with atleast having a clear diagnosis and could research treatments. But since this is only based of his 2 minute visual inspection I am very skeptical.
There was no clear diagnosis explained, no meaningful treatment plan, and no safety netting advice if symptoms continue or worsen. I left with no reassurance and nothing tangible to show for the money spent. As someone who carefully saved for this appointment, this was incredibly upsetting.
I feel that the consultation did not offer anything. Zero value, thoroughness, or patient centred care, and I would not recommend this service to anyone seeking proper investigation or collaborative decision making. I feel scammed to put it bluntly. I left the building feeling worse than when I entered. I was not listened to or taken seriously. Something you hope to get if you’re paying good money for.
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