The Trichoscopic Assessment — 60-Minute Scalp Imaging

Prepare

Before you arrive

The images are only as useful as the conditions they were taken under. Product film, a freshly washed scalp and a restyle all change what the trichoscope records. We ask you to leave the hair unwashed on the day of the visit. If you usually wash every morning, wash the evening before and skip the morning wash. Do not apply oils, dry shampoo, fibres, spray or leave-in styling.

Bring a written list of what you currently use on the scalp and hair, including pharmacy and supermarket products. If you have older photographs of the same parting or hairline — even phone pictures from a year ago — bring those as well. They are not a substitute for our baseline, but they help us date the change you are describing.

If you are unwell, have an open sore on the scalp, or have started a new prescription in the last fortnight, tell us when you book. We may move the visit rather than capture a picture that will not represent your usual state. Deposit rules for a move of this kind are set out on the refunds page.

Protocol

What happens in the room

The hour is structured so that every assessment can be compared with the next one. We do not wander the scalp looking for a single dramatic frame. We work through named zones and write numbers against each of them.

1

History and triggers

We date the shedding or thinning as precisely as you can, then walk through diet and medical changes, recent illness, childbirth, medicines, and the chemical and heat history of the hair. The aim is to decide which markers matter most, not to take a life story.

2

Visual inspection of zones

Vertex, mid-scalp, frontal hairline and an occipital control field are inspected in the same order each time. The occipital field is our reference: it is often the last zone to change and tells us whether a finding is local or widespread.

3

Trichoscopy with marked zones

Each zone is imaged at 40× in polarised and non-polarised light. We mark the fields so that a review can return to the same square centimetre rather than a neighbouring one that happens to look similar.

4

Control-point photography

Wider photographs are taken from a fixed stand under a fixed light. These are the images we later place side by side. Handheld “after” pictures from a different angle are not used as evidence of change.

5

Phototrichogram when indicated

If shedding is the dominant complaint and the first images do not already explain it, we may recommend a two-visit phototrichogram. It is billed separately at A$240 and is not added unless we have discussed why it would change the plan.

6

Plan discussed in the room

You leave with a spoken outline: what we think we are looking at on the cosmetic plane, what we will write up, and whether a program, a single treatment, or a GP review is the honest next step. The written document follows within three working days.

Trichoscopic imaging in progress — Control points are photographed from a fixed stand

Jinfujeos provides cosmetic trichology services. We do not diagnose medical conditions and do not prescribe medicines. Where findings suggest a medical cause, we recommend review by your GP or a dermatologist.

Findings

The written findings

Within three working days we send a PDF. It contains the marked images, the four markers by zone, a short interpretation in ordinary language, a 12-week home outline if a cosmetic plan is appropriate, and a list of questions or tests that belong with your GP rather than with us. The document is yours to keep and to take to another practitioner.

We write what the images show and what they do not show. If density is within a range we would call unremarkable for the zone, we say so. If calibre variation is the stronger finding, we say that instead of stretching a density story to fit the visit. The plan is limited to what this clinic can carry out or dispense. We do not pad the PDF with product catalogues.

If the findings point away from a cosmetic program — toward a medical review, or toward leaving the scalp alone for a period — that is the recommendation we write. You are not asked to convert the assessment into a package in order for the document to be released.

Add-on

Phototrichogram: when and why

A phototrichogram is a two-visit procedure. On the first visit we clip a small test area, usually toward the vertex or mid-scalp, and photograph the field. You return 48 to 72 hours later. Hairs that have grown in that window are read as anagen; hairs that have not are read as telogen. The ratio is a snapshot of cycling in that patch, not a verdict on the whole head.

The fee is A$240 for both visits. We recommend it when the history is of abrupt or heavy shedding and the first trichoscopy does not already show a clear miniaturisation pattern or an inflammatory picture that would send you to a doctor. We do not recommend it for every assessment. Clipping a test patch is a genuine inconvenience, and the number is only useful if we intend to act on it.

If we suggest a phototrichogram after the baseline visit, you can decline and still receive the written findings for the assessment you have already paid for. The add-on is never bundled by surprise on the day.

Review

Reading a comparison

A later image is only a comparison if the zone, the light, the magnification and the absence of styling product are the same. We therefore refuse to judge “progress” from a bathroom selfie or from a review taken after a fresh colour or a heavy oil treatment. If the field cannot be matched, we say the review is descriptive and we do not claim a change.

What counts as a meaningful change is modest and specific. We look for a shift in follicular density on the same field, a narrowing of calibre variation, a change in the anagen share if a phototrichogram was done, or a quieter erythema and scaling pattern. A good hair day, a different parting or a new fringe are not accepted as evidence. Ninety days is the shortest interval at which we will read a growth-cycle change; earlier visits can still treat the scalp, but they do not rewrite the baseline story.

Booking

Booking and what it costs

The trichoscopic assessment is A$185 for 60 minutes, including the written findings. A deposit of A$50 is taken when the time is held and is credited to the fee on the day. Card and bank transfer are accepted. If you need to move the appointment, notice of 24 hours or more keeps the deposit; the detail sits on our refunds and cancellations page.

Saturday mornings are shorter and book earlier. If you are travelling from outside the CBD, allow time for the Collins Street tram stop and the lift to Level 4. We do not run a waiting room large enough for unbooked walk-ins.

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The 60-minute trichoscopic assessment