Some years ago people did not know the benefits of this portentous oil but now they can not get enough of it. Tea Tree Oil is a remedy for home that can be used in many situations: for adults and for children, during the summer and winter, for external and internal application. It is perfect to improve the implementation of hygiene measures.

Antimicrobial: its principal function

The antimicrobial action is useful on boils or on irritations. An antimicrobial is a chemical substance that kills and inhibits the growth of microorganisms (that vital organisms less than 0.1 mm) like virus, bacteria and fungi. The Australian aborigens did not know the functions and used the chopped leaves or an infusion to put it on wound infection. Now, the oil, that is obtained from the leaves by steam is applied to the skin for its antimicrobial action and there are lots of clinical studies to prove it. For example:

(Xinghua Li, Songwei Duan, Cordia Chu,nJun Xu, Gucheng Zeng, Alfred King-Yin Lam, Junmei Zhou, Yue Yin, Danyun Fang, Maxwell John Reynolds, Huaiyu Gu, and Lifang Jiang)Influenza virus causes high morbidity among the infected population annually and occasionally the spread of pandemics. The aim is to investigate whether Tea tree oil has any in vitro inhibitory effect on influenza virus infection and what mechanism does the Tea tree oil use to fight the virus infection. In this study, the antiviral activity of Tea tree oil was examined by its inhibition of cytopathic effects. It is found that terpinen-4-ol, which is the major bioactive component of Tea tree oil, could combine with the membrane fusion site of haemagglutinin.

Its external use:

Tea tree oil cosmetic can be used:

  • In case of acne, it helps the control of microorganisms’ growth on the skin.
  • In case of insect bites
  • In case of skin irritation and erythema
  • On feet and hand nails

It is possible to mix the oil with creams and oils like almond oil or to put It pure on the surface.

It is useful also for personal hygiene:

  • Use it to rinse of oral cavity, put some drops in some water for infection or oral cavity
  • Put some drops in the intimal detergent
  • Put some drops in the shampoo or directly on the scalp of children before going to school or kindergarten.

Do not forget: you can put it directly on your hand during the day. You can carry it around with you! It is useful on public transportation or in crowded places. It is a good habit during winter where there is a high incidence of microorganisms.

Its internal use:

Tea tree oil can be taken orally. Can we take a cosmetic tea tree oil orally? No, it is a cosmetic, it can be used on the external part of body, on teeth or oral mucosa and on external genital organs. So if we want to take advantage of tea tree oil’s benefits orally, we will suggest a tea tree oil dietary supplement.

  • It supports immune defence against external agents. Tea tree oil, taken orally, increases the physiological resistence of the organisms, in case of serious environmental condition.
  • It helps the functionality of upper airways. The upper airways are: nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, oral cavity, pharynx, epiglottis and larynx
  • It protects cells and tissues from oxidative damage. The antioxidants protect from free radical, they can be increased in case of stress, alcohol, exposure to rays or high level of pollution. We recommend to take some drops on a spoon of sugar or of vegetal oil. It is better to take it on a full stomach.

Be careful with Terpenes:

The high quality of tea tree oil is given by the high percentage of characterizing substances, the terpenes. 40-45% of terpenes mean high quality. Do not forget, Terpinen-4-olo is responsible of the action: the Australian law approves it only higher than 30%. Cineol has irritant action and according to the same law, it has to be under 15%.

 

Edited by Dr Laura Rubini