On our condition pages you will see a marker showing whether something is treatable online. It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you.
It does not mean examination never matters. It means that for most people presenting with that problem, the information a consultation can gather remotely is enough to act on safely.
Where it is marked as not treatable online, that is usually because:
- Physical examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint
- A procedure or device is required — dermoscopy for a mole, an ECG, an internal examination
- The risk of getting it wrong is too high to accept without seeing you
The honest position is that any individual case can turn out to need seeing, whatever the page says. If that happens during your consultation we will tell you, arrange the right route, and not charge you for a second appointment to be told the same thing.
What no online service can do: handle an emergency. Chest pain, stroke symptoms, severe breathlessness, heavy bleeding or a non-blanching rash need 999 or A&E, not an appointment.