Do you know all the benefits of tea tree oil? You might wonder about the name of this tree that is anything but a real tea tree. The Australian tea tree is not for drinking but is well-known for the healing qualities of the oil it produces and people are warned not to confuse it with the leaves that are used to make Oolong tea. Tea tree oil is for external use only.
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The Different Uses for Tea Tree Oil
An outbreak of a debilitating foot fungus that hospitalized hundreds of Australian soldiers during World War 2 actually brought tea tree oil and its benefits and uses to light.
Medical doctors could find no cure for the fungus, until an aboriginal Australian with ancient knowledge applied a camphor-scented substance to the soldier’s feet that healed their irritated skin within days. Thus, tea tree oil, that comes from a small nondescript tree, native to Queensland and New South Wales in Australia, still remains on the list of alternative medicines for its various uses.
Tea tree oil is definitely meant for topical use only. A main benefit is that it heals sunburn and itchiness of rashes, as well as bee stings and other insect bites. It’s definitely a cure for foot and toe funguses that you could contract showering in public places, like the gym, without wearing shoes. It’s even good for skin conditions like ringworm, and can prevent hair lice if you wash your hair regularly with tea tree oil-infused shampoos.
Interestingly, because it has antibacterial qualities, you can even use it, diluted with some water in a spray bottle, to disinfect and clean surfaces in your home.
Tea Tree Oil Uses for Skin
When a baby or small child is suffering with eczema and other dry, flaky skin conditions, parents often bring out the zinc oxide cream and cortisone creams that have been tried and trusted in soothing and healing eczema skins.
However, it has been proven that tea tree oil is much more effective in healing the skin naturally than the pharmaceutically developed creams on the market. It has anti-inflammatory properties, helping to soothe itchy skin immediately.
If your face breaks out in welts of burning itchiness, a few drops of tea tree oil can be added to your face mask ingredients for its soothing antiseptic properties, and is effective in combating oily skin conditions too.
It is once again recommended not to use tea tree oil straight but to mix it with a ‘carrier’ oil such as coconut oil, olive oil or almond oil.
A serious autoimmune illness called psoriasis, which causes skin cells to grow too quickly, creates great discomfort for sufferers as new skin cells form in days and not weeks, creating thick, scaly, and often painfully itchy patches on the skin.
While tea tree oil is not a cure for the disease, it has been known to relieve the itchiness to a large degree and as an antibacterial, helps destroy microbes and fungi that could further exacerbate the psoriasis condition.
Best Way to Use Tea Tree Oil
Taking a teaspoon, or less, of ‘carrier oil’ such as coconut oil, drop two drops of tea tree oil into it and mix with a small stick or plastic wand. Gently apply it to the skin about four times a day.
Tea Tree Oil for Hair
Tea tree oil is great for controlling dandruff and keeping the hair healthy while promoting hair growth at the same time. Because tea tree oil is anti-microbial and anti-fungal, applying it to the scalp loosens and removes the dry and dead flaky dandruff skin, freeing hair follicles and letting them ‘breathe’, allowing hair growth to continue.
While aiding in keeping the scalp clean and healthy, tea tree oil helps create conditions to aid hair growth, and is also an amazing deterrent to head lice.
Best Way to Use Tea Tree Oil to Treat Dandruff
Add about ten drops of tea tree oil to your shampoo in the palm of your hand; mix it into the shampoo with your other and before applying to your head. Rub and massage your shampoo into your scalp with your fingertips and let it rest there for about 5 to 10 minutes before rinsing it off.
Best Way to Use Tea Tree Oil to Treat Head Lice
It is important to do a patch test on your arm, between the elbow and wrist, to make sure your skin does not react by swelling or itching, before you leave the tea tree oil on your head for long. If no reaction is detected then you can mix 3-5 drops of tea tree oil to every ounce of shampoo, or mix 3x tablespoons of a ‘carrier oil’ such as coconut oil with one teaspoon of tea tree oil and apply it to the infested hair.
Some websites recommend leaving it for 40 minutes to an hour on the hair, but it is also very effective to leave it overnight. Then, comb through the hair the next day to remove the dead lice and nits.
Tea Tree Oil for Acne Scars
There is nothing worse for a teenager, or even an adult, than to find a glaring pimple on your face, with raised red, skin just threatening to pop out and create not only itchiness and pain, but also embarrassment.
Since tea tree oil has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, it remains the ‘go-to’ solution for annoying acne as it reduces acne-causing bacteria, and can prevent scars and calm red, inflamed skin, improving skin tone and leaving the skin looking healthy.
Best Ways to Use Tea Tree Oil for Acne
Buy an unscented facial wash (750ml bottle) and add a proportional amount of 5% tea tree oil to the wash. Use this to clean your skin as your daily routine. Another home remedy that can remove spots is the raw honey and tea tree oil combination.
This recipe was found on the clearawayacne.net website and advocates that mixing two tablespoons of honey with 5 drops of tea tree oil, then dabbing the mixture onto red, inflamed, acne areas and leaving it to dry, after which you can rinse it off with warm water and pat the skin dry gently, will yield good results after a while.
How to Dilute Tea Tree Oil for Acne
Pour a tablespoon of coconut oil into a glass container; add 2-3 drops of lavender oil and 3-4 drops of tea tree oil. Mix and dab onto spots with a cotton bud (q-tip).
Castor Oil and Tea Tree Oil for Hair Growth
Some people swear by the method of using castor oil and tea tree oil to improve hair growth. A 35 year-old man in Cambodia, using this mixture for the past 5 years and applying it twice a week, has reported a 20% increase in hair growth, or at least that percentage of less hair fall.
Combine a teaspoon of pure tea tree oil with a spoon of castor oil and a further tablespoon of carrier oil like olive oil or coconut oil. The mixture is applied to the scalp and left for 30 minutes before washing it off with lukewarm water. Apparently this mixture is effective when used twice a week.
Black Jamaican castor oil with tea tree oil extract is also sold at most outlets and is an effective support for hair growth and follicle and scalp health.
Can Tea Tree Oil Cause Hair Loss?
It is best to do a patch test 24 hours before using tea tree oil for the first time as some people might be allergic to it. Signs of allergy could be extremely itchy skin, swelling of the hair follicles, which leads to scratching and hair loss.
Tea Tree Oil Benefits
Also known as the melaleuca alternifolia plant, found in Australia, tea tree oil is produced from its leaves and possesses anti-bacterial properties, as well as anti-fungal properties. Many new conditions are being found to respond favorably to tea tree oil and here is a list of the most common conditions that this miracle oil can help to cure.
- skin conditions: acne, dry skin, psoriasis
- fungal infections: athlete’s foot, toenail fungus
- anti-viral: a combination of tea tree oil and eucalyptus works against herpes simplex virus and can prevent the spread of flu.
- treatment for warts
- aid in hair growth and follicle stimulation
- eliminates dandruff and relieves cradle cap on babies scalp
- eliminates head lice
- A small amount mixed with mouthwash (not swallowed) can eliminate bad breath
Inhaling Tea Tree Oil
It may be effective in relieving symptoms of asthma by reducing inflammation of the airways. Aromatherapy treatments hail the oil as helpful in alleviating chest and head congestion, as well as other colds and flu symptoms.
Tea Tree Oil for Whitening of Skin and Dark Spots
Many of us don’t realize what we are doing to our skins when we go out in the sun and sometimes we have no choice but to expose ourselves to the harmful radiation due to our jobs or daily activities, resulting in blemished skin, caused by hyperpigmentation, and leading to sun spots and age spots.
However, tea tree oil mixtures don’t actually ‘fade’ or lighten these spots, rather the healing comes from its healing properties. Thus, applying a mixture of essential oils and tea tree oil will definitely protect the skin from the harmful radiation of the sun and minimize these changes in pigmentation.
Most tea tree oil products come with a warning not to overuse it as it can have the opposite effect.
Where to Buy Tea Tree Oil
Most pharmacies and drug stores will stock combinations of tea tree oil and carrier oils for various skin afflictions or you can purchase pure tea tree oil online at various outlets, remembering to follow instructions strictly for mixing for various conditions, and also not to ingest tea tree oil.
Used carefully, tea tree oil will definitely help alleviate symptoms of many different skin problems, but it is highly recommended that the eye and nose area should be avoided when applying it. Furthermore, no tests have been conclusive yet with regard to tea tree oil being an effective antivirus, for example.
However, the curative properties with regard to fungal skin conditions have been around for as long as Australia has existed, and people will continue to use it for its excellent medicinal value.
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