Tea Tree Oil Treatment
Tea Tree Oil has significant antiseptic properties to fight against the majority of skin infections. It can also impede rashes caused by parasites and insects. It stops the itching and calms the inflammation normally associated with eczema, psoriasis and topical skin flares. But, the very best thing about tea tree oil is that if you have an unidentified area of pimples, patch testing with diluted tea tree or a good quality tea tree cream on a small area will not hurt it and it may well go on to cure it.
Acne — Zap It! Tea Tree Oil
Acne can strike at any age, it can be caused by stress, a hormone imbalance, pollutants, a poor cleansing routine or hereditary. Zap-it!®, with both tea tree oil and Salicylic acid (which is naturally found in several plants, such as willow, birch and wintergreen) is a safe treatment for those skin conditions that need the dead scaly skin removed so that the natural ingredients can penetrate to work more effectively.
Melaleuca oil is specifically mentioned for having antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial and acaricidal actions against skin infections such as acne, herpes and scabies in the following abstract.
Adverse and beneficial effects of plant extracts on skin and skin disorders. Adverse Drug React Toxicol Rev
This was the first peer-reviewed paper about the effects of melaleuca oil on acne. It concludes that the treatment of acne with melaleuca oil results in fewer side effects than a treatment of benzoyl peroxide.
A comparative study of tea-tree oil versus benzoylperoxide in the treatment of acne. Med J Aust. 1990 Oct
Salicylic acid, which is the main active ingredient in Zap-it!, is a safe treatment for skin conditions that need the dead scaly skin removed so that the natural ingredients, such as melaleuca oil, can penetrate to work more
effectively. It is naturally found in several plants, such as willow, birch trees and wintergreen leaves. Salicylic acid applied on pads reduced the number of acne lesions and was well tolerated.
Treatment of acne vulgaris with salicylic acid pads. Clin Ther.
In this comparison study, salicylic acid was superior to benzoyl peroxide for the treatment of acne. Comparison of a salicylic acid cleanser and a benzoyl peroxide wash in the treatment of acne vulgaris. Clin Ther.
Zap It!Melaleuca oil for treatment of skin conditions caused by other organisms.
That is the beauty of such a broad-spectrum antiseptic substance, it does not matter what sort of organism caused the skin infection and associated irritation, melaleuca oil helps to alleviate it:
The way that melaleuca oil can easily penetrate the skin suggests it may be suitable for use in the treatment of fungal mucosal and cutaneous infections.
-In vitro activity of tea tree oil against Candida albicans mycelial conversion and other pathogenic fungi. J Chemother.
Unlike the normal antibacterial topical medicines, diluted melaleuca oil can maintain the beneficial skin bacteria while getting rid of the nastier strains that cause the problems.
Susceptibility of transient and commensal skin flora to the essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree oil). Am J Infect Control. 1996 Jun;24(3):186-9. And don’t forget the viral skin infections. A 6% tea tree dilution in gel form shows significant results against reoccurring herpes labialis (Cold sores).
Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil gel (6%) for the treatment of recurrent herpes labialis Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
More serious skin infections:
Staphylococcus aureus is a strain of bacteria that lives naturally on the skin. When an over-growth occurs it can cause minor infections, such as pus-filled spots and boils, etc. When it becomes resistant to the strongest antibiotics that we have, it becomes known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or golden-staph. This can also live on the skin without causing any problem to the host. But, when it is transferred to another less-healthy individual or it infects a wound, it can become life threatening. MRSA/Golden staph, claims tens of thousands of lives every year. Melaleuca oil has been shown to inhibit and even destroy it, both in vitro and in vivo.
August 22 2008 01:53 pm | Allergies and Anti Aging and Beauty and Depression and Diet and Fitness and Mind Body Spirit and Physical Therapy and Skin Care and Uncategorized and Weight Loss