Peter Lio, MD

There seems to be renewed interest in coconut and other natural oils, with topics as far-flung as using coconut oil as a sunscreen (spoiler: it didn’t work very well!) Here, we’ll tell you where it does show promise.

Safe, inexpensive, and widely available, sunflower oil seems a reasonable consideration for any patient with impaired skin barrier, so long as there is not a known sunflower seed allergy.

There is increasing interest in so-called alternative medicine. Both patients and practitioners are clearly interested in this domain and this is in striking contrast to the bright, shining edifice of evidence-based medicine.