Acne Treatment With Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree oil acne treatment is a natural solution that is found in many co-ops and health food stores. It has been around for a number of years and it comes from a tree called Melaleuca Alternifolia. The oil that comes from this tree is well known to have some really good healing features associated with it. Among the most useful of its treatments is to help reduce the problem of acne that many individuals have.
Tea tree oil is an essential oil that has antiseptic properties. It has been used as a natural anti fungal and antibacterial agent. You might have heard that teat tree oil can help treat acne because it kills acne-causing bacteria. However, unlike benzoyl peroxide and retin A, there is not much evidence that tea tree oil is an effective treatment for acne.
What is Tea Tree Oil?
Tea tree oil is a type of oil that is extracted out from leaves of an Australian tree called the Melaleuca Alternafolia. This oil has powerful anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal qualities. It is traditionally utilized for curing problems that are related to cold sores, bad breath, bad body odor and feet of an athlete. Tea tree oil is also utilized as antiseptic agents on cuts, insect bites and burns. Tea tree oil is really productive in case of topical application on acne areas. It has been proven more effective and has replaced Benzoyl peroxide for acne treatment. It is considered as a natural treatment for acne.
Acne Treatment With Tea Tree Oil
There are only a few real studies into the efficacy of tea tree oil in improving acne symptoms. One study found that a topical 5% tea tree oil solution was approximately as effective as benzoyl peroxide. Basically, the tea tree oil was mildly helpful but did not significantly improve acne symptoms for most patients. On the plus side, tea tree oil had fewer side effects (dry skin, itching, redness, etc) than benzoyl peroxide. The major limitation of topical tea tree oil is the same as for most other topical antibiotic treatments; the antibacterial compounds do not effectively penetrate to the site of infection.
In many cases of moderate to severe acne, an overgrowth of P. acnes bacteria occurs deep within the follicle and sebaceous gland. This location is not accessible to many of the antibacterial molecules found in topical acne treatments. This limitation means that tea tree oil, and most other topical treatments, are largely innefective against moderate and severe forms of acne.
Acne Scars Treatment With Tea Tree Oil
The use of tea tree oil for acne and removing acne scars has been a popular remedy for ages. It can be used directly with other emollients depending on the skin type. As it is a very strong oil, it cannot be applied to the skin directly. For oily skin the combination of one part oil and nine parts water is good. But for sensitive skin, one part oil is mixed with nine parts aloe vera gel is better suited.
You can even try tea tree masks by mixing the oil with green clay and applying it on your face. You can leave it on for 30 minutes before washing it off. The use of tea tree oil for acne scars is relatively safe and has almost no side effects on the individual’s skin. If you consider using tea tree oil for acne treatment, it is also necessary that you be well informed about the application of the oil as well as its usage.
Things To Consider When Using Tea Tree Oil
So, we know that Tea Tree Oil can be an effective treatment for acne but doesn’t work as well (or as fast) as Benzoyl Peroxide. We also know from other studies that increasing the concentration of Benzoyl Peroxide has little effect on improving its performance so the ideal concentration would be between 2.5% and 5%.
Therefore, if we want to increase the power of a benzoyl peroxide acne treatment we would be better off adding other acne remedies instead of increasing the concentration. Therefore, it can be concluded that instead of using these two treatments individually, our best bet is to combine them at lower concentrations to maximize their effect and still being kind to the skin.
