Tea Tree Oil – Natural Cures
As more people suffer unhealthy side affects from prescription drugs and even over the counter medications, interest in natural herbal remedies has increased. But which herb works for which particular ailment is not common knowledge. Some herbs can actually cure a multitude of problems. Tea Tree Oil is one of these herbal remedies.
Tea tree oil is most commonly produced as a pure essential oil. You will also find it as an ingredient in creams, ointments, lotions, soaps, and shampoos. You should not confuse Tea tree oil with Chinese tea oil, cajeput oil, kanuka oil, manuka oil, ti tree oil, and niauouli oil.
Tea tree oil comes from the Australian paperbark tree and was used as a folk remedy by Australian aborigines. The Latin name for Tea Tree is Melaleuca alternifolia and there are about 300 varieties of the tree but research indicates only one produces the medicinal oil. Tea tree oil has been used by the general population since the 1920’s. It became popular after Australian servicemen reported its therapeutic uses. Around 1922, The Royal Society of New South Wales reported that the oil was a particularly effective antiseptic.
Whereas with some herbs there is no hard data to prove their effectiveness there are actually documented studies proving the benefits of Tea Tree Oil and natural remedies containing Tea Tree Oil.
Athlete’s Foot -A randomized controlled trial using a 25% tea tree oil solution, 50% tea tree oil solution, or a placebo (no medication) was conducted including 158 people with athlete’s foot. After twice daily application for 4 weeks, the two tea oil solutions were found to be significantly more effective than the placebo.
In the group using a 50% solution of tea tree oil, 64% were cured as compared to 31% in the placebo group. According to the report ,four people had to withdraw from the study because they developed dermatitis (their condition improved after discontinuing the tea tree oil) but those were the only significant side effects reported by the study.
Toenail Fungus – In another study, a randomized, controlled trial reported in the Journal of Family Practice compared the effectiveness of the twice-daily application of 100% tea tree oil or 1% clotrimazole solution (a topical antifungal medication) in 177 subjects with toenail fungal infection. After 6 months, the 100% tea tree oil treatment was found to be as effective as the topical antifungal, based on clinical assessment and toenail cultures.
An additional experiment compared the effectiveness and safety of a cream containing a 5% solution of tea tree oil and a 2% butenafine hydrochloride in 60 people suffering from toenail fungal infection. After 16 weeks, 80% of people using the cream had significant improvement compared to none in the placebo group. The only side effect reported was mild inflammation.
A third double-blind study compared a 100% tea tree oil to a topical antifungal called clotrimazole in 112 people with fungal infections of the toenails. The tea tree oil proved to be as effective as the antifungal cream.
