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Skin Care and Diseases

Alternative medicine and rosacea

07/16/2002

Question:

What are alternative remedies for rosacea?

Answer:

Your question prompted an extensive literature search to see if there is any significant evidence that alternative medicine has a place in the care of rosacea. Please be clearly aware that the cause of rosacea is unknown. Its histology and chemical evidence of inflammation are evident but the reason for the inflammatory processes are unclear. The material I reviewed was found primarily in the homeopathic literature. The scientific validity of the observations was not born out from any of the articles we found. Rather they appeared to be patients` statements of improvement and certainly did not have good scienfitic design. You can review these on the Internet by logging onto www.naturaldatabase.com which is the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. I would point out that the "medications" (emu oil, colloidal silver, laurelwood, oregano, Vitamin K) have such wide application to be nonspecific and one would wonder if the observations are well within placebos. Based upon what we were able to find I could not recommend any of the materials that are listed in the references and would clearly avoid the use of materials like colloidal silver. If you are having problems with your rosacea I would urge that you see a board certified dermatologist for a careful and complete review. 

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Response by:

University of Cincinnati Charles L. Heaton, MD
Professor
Department of Dermatology
College of Medicine
University of Cincinnati