Despite millions of dollars of research and some of the best and brightest minds working on the problem of eczema, we still do not fully understand the disease, nor do we yet have a cure. The conventional treatments are very helpful for the vast majority of patients, but some continue to suffer despite the best medications, and others suffer side-effects from therapies that are far from totally safe. Thus, it is no surprise that more than half of all eczema patients have reported using some form of alternative medicine, and that the majority continues to search for new and better treatment options.

Defining “alternative therapies” for eczema

A practical way to define alternative therapies is treatments and systems that do not have enough evidence to be recommended, either due to not having been tested sufficiently or at all, or having been tested and found convincingly not to work. The problem is that there are an overwhelming number of outlets overflowing with anecdotal evidence, and simply not enough resources to test them all properly. Sadly, it seems that there is no easy solution for this, and thus many alternatives will remain that way for at least quite some time.