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Diagnosis before treatment

Conditions We Assess

Thirty conditions, each explained the same way: what it actually is, how it is told apart from the things it resembles, and when treatment should wait. Every assessment is carried out personally by Medical Director Dr Sin Yong.

In short

IN Eternity Clinic's condition guides explain thirty common skin, lesion and body concerns the same way: what each one is, how it is told apart from look-alikes, what is checked first, and when treatment should wait. Every assessment is carried out by Medical Director Dr Sin Yong at Pacific Plaza, Orchard Road, and the diagnosis is made before any treatment is chosen.

Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong, Medical Director, IN Eternity Clinic · Updated
Key facts
  • What these guides cover: thirty conditions in six groups: lesions and growths, pigment, redness and vessels, texture and scarring, skin quality, and body, plus face-shape concerns.
  • How each guide is built: mechanism, the distinction from look-alikes, what is assessed first, the usual approach, and when treatment is deferred.
  • Why diagnosis comes first: conditions that look alike can need opposite treatment: melasma and sun spots, milia and syringomas, a cyst and a lipoma, rosacea and dermatitis.
  • Lesions are checked before removal: any growth that is changing, bleeding or unlike the others is examined, and tissue is kept for testing where there is doubt.
  • Treatment can wait: active acne, pregnancy, an inflamed cyst or a recent change in a lesion are reasons to pause cosmetic treatment.
  • Who assesses: Medical Director Dr Sin Yong, MBBS (NUS), MRCS (Edinburgh), MSc Aesthetic Medicine (London), MSc Practical Dermatology (Cardiff).
  • Where: IN Eternity Clinic, 9 Scotts Road, #12-01 Pacific Plaza, Singapore 228210. Monday to Saturday, 11am–8pm. WhatsApp +65 8815 3008.
Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong, Medical Director, IN Eternity Clinic · Last updated
Lesions & Growths · 9
Moles
Moles
A melanocytic nevus is a benign proliferation of pigment-producing cells. Most are exactly what they appear to be…
Skin Tags
Skin Tags
Acrochordons are benign fibroepithelial outgrowths on a narrow stalk. Individually they are a non-event.…
Warts
Warts
A cutaneous wart is a human papillomavirus infection of epidermal keratinocytes. The raised, rough lesion is the…
Milia
Milia
A milium is a keratin-filled cyst sitting under the epidermis with a complete epithelial lining and no opening to…
Syringomas
Syringomas
Syringomas are benign tumours of the eccrine sweat ducts — not milia, not sebaceous, and not treatable by extraction.
Sebaceous Cysts
Sebaceous Cysts
An epidermoid cyst is a sac lined with epidermis, filled with keratin. The contents are not the problem — the wall is.
Lipomas
Lipomas
A lipoma is a benign tumour of mature fat cells in the subcutaneous layer — soft, mobile, and usually not tender.
Seborrhoeic Keratosis
Seborrhoeic Keratosis
A benign proliferation of keratinocytes with a characteristically stuck-on appearance, as though it could be…
Sebaceous Hyperplasia
Sebaceous Hyperplasia
Enlarged sebaceous glands presenting as small, soft, yellowish papules with a central dimple — most often on the…
Pigment · 6
Melasma
Melasma
An acquired, symmetrical hypermelanosis driven by ultraviolet and visible light, hormonal influence and dermal…
Sun Spots
Sun Spots
Solar lentigines are discrete, bounded collections of pigment produced by cumulative ultraviolet exposure. Unlike…
Freckles
Freckles
Ephelides are a genetically determined sun response — more melanin produced without an increase in melanocyte…
Post-Inflammatory Pigmentation
Post-Inflammatory Pigmentation
Pigment deposited in response to an identifiable injury — a spot, a burn, friction, a procedure. It is the mark…
Dark Underarms
Dark Underarms
Axillary hyperpigmentation is usually post-inflammatory, driven by friction, shaving and irritation — not by lack…
Tattoo Regret
Tattoo Regret
Tattoo ink sits as particles in the dermis, engulfed by cells that cannot break them down. Removal means…
Redness & Vessels · 4
Persistent Facial Redness
Persistent Facial Redness
Redness that does not settle has several distinct causes, and they are not managed the same way. Establishing…
Rosacea-Prone Skin
Rosacea-Prone Skin
Rosacea is a chronic medical condition, not a skin type. It requires diagnosis and frequently prescription management.
Facial Thread Veins
Facial Thread Veins
Telangiectasias are permanently dilated small blood vessels visible at the skin surface. They are vessels, not…
Sensitised Skin
Sensitised Skin
Skin that reacts to things it should tolerate — usually a barrier that has stopped coping rather than an intrinsic…
Texture & Scarring · 5
Acne Scars
Acne Scars
Not one condition. Icepick, boxcar and rolling scars have different architecture and respond to different things —…
Enlarged Pores
Enlarged Pores
Pore size is largely structural and genetically set. What can change is how visible they are.
Surgical & Trauma Scars
Surgical & Trauma Scars
Scars are remodelled, not removed. The realistic aim is a scar that is flatter, paler, softer and less conspicuous…
Stretch Marks
Stretch Marks
Striae are dermal tears from rapid stretch. They exist in two stages, and the stage determines what is worth doing.
Keratosis Pilaris
Keratosis Pilaris
Keratin plugs the follicular opening, producing rough papules on the upper arms, thighs and cheeks. Extremely…
Skin Quality · 4
Dehydrated Skin
Dehydrated Skin
Dehydration is a water problem, not an oil problem. Oily skin can be dehydrated, which is why the two are…
Dull, Uneven Tone
Dull, Uneven Tone
Dullness is a light problem. Skin looks flat when its surface scatters light irregularly rather than reflecting it…
Fine Lines & Crepe
Fine Lines & Crepe
Crepe texture reflects dermal thinning and collagen loss — a structural change, distinct from the folds made by…
Skin Laxity
Skin Laxity
Sagging has more than one source. Establishing whether the slack is skin, fat or support determines whether…
Body · 2
Stubborn Fat
Stubborn Fat
Localised fat pockets that persist despite weight loss. These are distribution, not excess — which is why diet…
Loose Skin After Weight Loss
Loose Skin After Weight Loss
After significant weight loss the skin envelope can exceed the volume beneath it. This is a skin problem, not a…
Face shape & contour concerns · 4
Double Chin
Fat, laxity, platysma position or jaw structure — four causes that look alike.
Pigmentation
Melasma, sun spots and uneven tone, told apart before treatment.
Under-Eye Hollows & Dark Circles
Volume, pigment, vessels or shadow — which one is yours.
V-Shape Face
What actually slims a jawline, and what does not.

Not sure which one is yours?

That is what the assessment is for. Several of these conditions look alike and are managed differently — establishing which one you have is the first clinical act.

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