Complementary and Alternative Approaches II

Current data suggests up to half of atopic dermatitis (AD) patients will use complementary or alternative therapies for their disease. These modalities include acupuncture and its variants, cupping therapy, and herbal therapies such as tea and caffeine. In this chapter, we summarize existing evidence for complementary therapies in AD and provide clinical pearls for the integrative management of AD. Several of these modalities are safe and may be implemented as supplemental therapy to the current standard of care. Acupuncture shows promise for AD severity and may help with pruritus while cupping therapy is supported by limited evidence. Herbal therapies, tea, and caffeine have improved disease severity in a limited number of trials. However, the data for traditional Chinese medicine is sparse and existing evidence is complicated by studies with small sample sizes, confounding variables, and design flaws. Patient interest in these therapies necessitates the need for the dermatologic community to understand the safety and efficacy of these treatments.