title: Rosacea Patient Perspectives on Homeopathic and Over-the-counter Therapies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rosacea patients commonly employ nonprescription therapies. The authors' aim was to understand rosacea patients' perceptions of over-the-counter products, complementary and alternative medicine, and homeopathic therapies.
  
  
  METHODS
  A public, online discussion forum comprising 3,350 members and 27,051 posts provided a source of 346 posts on patient perceptions on alternative rosacea treatments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three major themes of nonprescription treatment were identified-motivation for use, patient-provider discussions, and experience with these treatments. Perceived medication failure, barriers to treatment, and distrust of physicians drive patients to seek nonprescription therapies. Still, patients prefer to consult a physician on incorporating nonprescription therapies into treatment. Complementary and alternative medicine natural products (19.4% of posts), complementary and alternative medicine practices (16.5%), and homeopathic medicine (3.8%) were commonly discussed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physicians have an opportunity to be a trusted source of information on the strengths and weaknesses of skin care products and other complementary treatments for rosacea.
authors.affiliation: Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina;
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alinia
authors.affiliation: Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina;
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina;
authors.forename: Sandy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina;
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina;
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; ; Department of Pathology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; ; Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Feldman