To not send a photo to the Dr?

[swissrollisntswiss]

DS (4) has a rash around his anus. Very red, with a very clear border. He’s had it for a week now, we’ve tried sudacream but it’s not helped. He’s now complaining that it’s itchy and getting sore. I’ve looked for worms but can’t see any so I’m fairly sure it isn’t that.

After calling the surgery all day I finally get through and I’m told that they can’t see him but to email a photo. I’m not comfortable with this, it feels too private. I’ve sent one when he’s had an eye infection previously, I’m fine with the system but not for this. Is it just me? AIBU?

For full context, I’m not in the UK, I’m British though so not sure if I’m being too British!

Same op. Don't send it. Ask for an appointment and the Gp can see it then.

That would probably be illegal in this country

I wouldn't do it for many, many reasons

My DD had that when little once and it ended up being Strep! Which I didn’t know you could get on your butt! You need an in-person appointment.

Don't send it. Try another cream or ointment, one specifically for itches, it might contain antihistamine,, and see how they goes. I use itch relief cream sometimes but have never had an itch around my anus that I can remember. My cousin did and she put some itch cream around there which worked.

If that doesn't work, insist a doctor sees him. Poor kid.

A week is a long time,.
You can't always see worms. I'd get some treatment locally anyway and maybe also some antifungal cream.
Make sure only wears pure cotton pants too.
Ask a pharmacist about it, they should be able to advise too.

Late at night, keep bedroom dark, check child's anus by the light of a torch. If the itching is caused by worms, this is the most likely time to see them

I probably would send it but absolutely no judgement if you wouldn't!

Our doctors specifically requests you don't send digital images of genitals. Your GP surgery would have to have spectacularly robust security settings to feel confident about a data hack.

I don't see any problem replying and saying you don't feel comfortable and visually describing it.

Is it wet/dry/shiny/spotty/flakey/raised/lumpy/cracked/bleeding/oozing etc etc.

They might need an appointment in person but c'est la vie.

The actual privacy part wouldn’t worry me.

You can get photo of a child’s anus on google easily.

But I don’t think this sort of thing can be diagnosed over a photo.

If you are uncomfortable then don’t send it.
Put some sudocrem on it for now and try and get an appointment tomorrow.

Email is not secure. So it is not 'completely confidential'.

Our cat definitely had worms and you couldn't see anything in her droppings or under her tail. She perked up and got better once we wormed her.

I'd stop the sudacream and concentrate on keeping the area clean and dry. My children once got nappy rash and then got a fungal infection on top of that. The doctor prescribed oral antifungal medication and I soemthing or other to put on the actual rash. Plenty of "airing" was recommended.

Haven't read all posts. I deal with econsults and I would never ask for an intimate photo of a child (or adult for that matter). That's a see it in person situation with the parent present as chaperone.

You have to remember these emails have to get through the security in IT. There's a good chance it will be blocked.

Also the emails very often go to the admin staff not directly to the GP. one of our staff was quite traumatised by a photo of genitals sent in by a patient. We hadn't asked him to so it was a shock.

I have seen all parts of the human body in real life as. GP but photos should not be sent. It's not appropriate.

If the GP has time to look at a photo and phone the parent back then they have time to see them. It really doesn't take much longer (grumpy retired GP here!)

My daughter had this. I treated for worms but a week later it was much worse. The dr initially said it was fungal and gave a cream, which made no difference. I believe it was strep A and your sons sounds similar (you can google what this looks like, be warned it’s graphic, plenty of people have uploaded photos of their anus to the internet). Dr prescribed antibiotics and it was getting better within 12 hours, and cured within 2 days. Never got the swab results but it must have been something bacterial.

I wouldn’t be happy sending a photo either OP.

Yes they need to understand the local legislation but the UK is far from the only place where simple possession of intimate photos of a minor is illegal.

The scanning for illegal content of this type by mainstream mail providers and most commercial filtering systems (which the GP should have in place) will also identify this and can result in loss of accounts (independent of local geography rules).

If the territory permits the picture in the first place then the GP practice should have a direct upload facility with access restricted to the practitioner (because as pp says - admin staff who pick up most mail should not have to be dealing with intimate photos, especialy of minors).

If you are auto backing up your photos to a cloud service, then you can find your account suspended over indecent images. There was a spate of ridiculousness a while back around people having innocent pics of their kids naked in the bath etc and then losing their accounts (think it was OneDrive).

I wouldn't send a photo. I'd reply with a description but ask to be seen in person.

Can you put the photo on Dropbox/Google Drive/OneDrive, and set the permissions so that only doctors_email(a)practicename.co.uk can access it? Then you can just send the link.

Whoever took the call must've misunderstood. No GP practice would want photos of intimate areas. It would not be policy.

Ask your pharmacist, describe the area. Don't show them photos either.

Not to derail the thread or anything but I feel a quick tech lesson is required here.

You know on your phone when you take a picture that you ultimately delete? Yeah, it's not deleted off the actual hard drive of your phone. It's there forever in that whenever you go on to sell your phone, even if you 'Restore to factory settings' there is some (free and very easy to download & use) software that will download Every. Single. Photo/text/video/voice memo you've ever taken or received. Any 'media' that has ever been on your actual device, can be recovered. Even if you had a passcode when you took or received the photo/video etc. Any model of phone and yes, even if you delete it from the 'deleted images' folder.
__
This also applies to tablets including iPads and computers including laptops and digital cameras.

This is usually how evidence against monsters who possess vile images, is gathered (after arrest) because they believe that 'restore to factory settings' wipes the device when it doesn't!

Please please please do not take images of any 'sensitive' areas of your children. At all. Ever

Apologies if that came off sanctimoniously or condescending, that wasn’t my intention. I know many of you will already know all of this, I’m just staggered that this isn’t yet common knowledge. As a mum it infuriates me.

We ask for photos so we know how to triage the problem. We have a special system that guarantees complete confidentiality. You can also ask them to delete it as soon as they have seen it. But of course you do have the right to say no. If I was little Id rather my mum sent in a photo than a strange man messed with my bum in a scary setting.

lol, honey no one is looking at the faces in porn... in fact many pornos blur the faces out (especially male faces) or use masks (especially in swinging/dogging) or are shot in a way to not show anything but the 'money shot'.

my kids had the same issue and I sent photos. It’s the bum area, no face or anything else recognizable. I had a prescription sent to the pharmacy within a couple of hours instead of my kid being uncomfortable for hours or days until seen. I don’t get the reluctance tbh.
to add- turned to be staph infection and needed antibiotics cream

@VegTrug thank you for this explanation. Taking a photo and sending an image that will traceable for an indefinite amount of time and uncontrolled is my concern. It’s also not anonymous. My DS name and DOB will be on the email.

Opinion is pretty divided. I’m going to stick with my gut instinct and call again tomorrow. I don’t think there was a miscommunication. Anus is anus in both English and German.

Thanks for all the other advice too, I’ll hold off on the sudacrem and see if I can check for worms again when he’s sleeping. If the Dr is more helpful I’ll try the pharmacy.

Yanbu our surgery specifically state don't send photos of intimate areas and that photos recieved are visible to all staff.