Tea Tree

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First-Aid Kit in a Bottle

Natural Pharmacy

JOHN ANDERSON

From an Australian tree much like the eucalyptus comes an all-purpose germicide and first-aid kit in a bottle. The essential oil from the leaves of the tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) is impressively effective as a natural, nontoxic medicinal agent against infections, fungi, and other microbes on the skin.

Australia is the world's sole source of tea trees.  The sticky, aromatic leaves are harvested and pressed for the valuable tea tree oil. For many years now, Australians have known about tea tree oil's remarkable antiseptic properties. It is routinely used for a variety of conditions including acne, candidiasis, insect bites, sunburn, athlete's foot, cuts, muscle aches, and shingles.

Tea tree oil was originally a folk remedy developed by the Australian Aborigines for treatment of insect bites, burns, and cuts. Depending on the health condition, tea tree oil can be used at full strength or diluted in water or with another oil. The Melaleuca tree gained its common name when Captain James Cook, the British explorer, disembarking in Australia around 1770, discovered the leaves brewed up a passable tea.

How Tea Tree Oil Ends Infections

Recent scientific research has validated the folk wisdom of the Australian Aborigines regarding the use of tea tree oil for infections.

One advantage that recommends tea tree oil as an antiseptic is that it is nearly impossible for an infectious microbe to build up any resistance to it. "The complexity of the oil, with approximately 100 components, increases the likelihood that synergistic interactions are occurring between components," concluded the researchers. One of the primary problems with conventional antibiotics is that, increasingly, infectious microbes develop a resistance to their effects, thus rendering the drugs useless.

No single element in tea tree oil accomplishes its remarkable germ-fighting and antiseptic ability-it's the interaction of eight different natural chemicals in the oil that does it. Australian researchers studied the action of tea tree oil against an antibiotic-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria commonly transmitted in hospitals. They found that only a tiny amount of tea tree oil (a concentration of only 0.25%) was able to inhibit bacterial growth; at double the strength (0.5%), it killed the bacteria.

The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups, one receiving 5% tea tree oil gel and the other receiving 5% benzoyl peroxide. The severity of each patient's acne was determined by the number of inflamed and non-inflamed lesions; then they were assessed monthly for three months to compare the results of the two treatments.

Tea tree oil was equally effective as the conventional anti-acne formula in reducing non-inflamed lesions. Both showed a 30% reduction after three months. The benzoyl peroxide was slightly more effective against the inflamed lesions, reducing the lesions by about two-thirds while tea tree oil reduced them by 45%, but this difference may have been due to the relatively low concentration of tea tree oil used in the study.

There was a significant difference in side effects, with 79% of the group treated with benzoyl peroxide reporting unwanted side effects compared to only 44% of the group treated with tea tree oil. Reported side effects included skin dryness, stinging, burning, redness, and itching. Tea tree oil was judged to be easier on the facial skin, according to participants. "This study shows that tea tree oil could be a useful alternative treatment for mild to moderate acne," the researchers concluded.