Tea Tree Oil - A Natural Acne Treatment? By Piers Valkind At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

If you suffer from acne, tea tree oil might sound like a good option for getting rid of it – but does it work? There's so much hype around natural treatments now that sometimes the truth gets buried for the sake of being environmentally friendly.

It might, or might not, depending. Before we get into that, though, let’s look at what tea tree oil is. It’s derived from a plant that’s native to Australia, called Melaleuca alternifolia. Originally, the leaves of the plant were used for tea, which is how it got its name. But the leaves themselves also contain oil and the extraction of that oil is what results in tea tree oil.

In Australia, it was soon discovered there are a multitude of uses for tea tree oil. The aborigines used the tea tree leaves for healing properties, and applied them to cuts and burns. But the leaves also contain a compound that works like an antiseptic, and that’s what is useful for acne. The was originally discovered by aborigines living near ponds where the tea tree leaves would gather in the water. They found that people who bathed in this water healed of cuts and infections far more quickly.

So, how useful is tea tree oil for getting rid of acne? Studies have shown that tea tree oil works well for acne, even better than benzoyl peroxide, which had more side effects and didn’t work quite as effectively. Many people report that benzoyl peroxide products make them itch and their skin feel like it’s burning and drying out, but they don’t have that problem with tea tree oil; natural treatments seem to have won this round!

Now, if you want to use tea tree oil on your skin, there are some things you should know before you start:

Don’t use tea tree oil in its undiluted state. Although you might think that will lead to more success in dealing with your acne, it won’t. When you put it directly on your skin, you might have some serious skin irritation that could include itching, redness and over drying. Pure essential oils are extremely potent and should be "diluted" with a base or carrier oil first. If you don't you could wind up with an unpleasant buring sensation on your skin.

Use a product that has about 5% tea tree oil. In studies, that amount is the best for skin. If you can’t find it commercially, you can make it yourself by mixing 5 parts tea tree oil to 95 parts water.

Some say you should only use tea tree oil if you have serious acne. Some people who only have mild acne (or just a few pimples here and there) say that their skin gets too dry if they use tea tree oil. You can always try using this product if you have tried other solutions that just haven't worked.

Find a product that has other acne-fighting ingredients like witch hazel or benzoyl peroxide in it. Again, try a few things, because some products might irritate your skin more than others. Sometimes it simply is a case of trial and error?

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