Tea tree oil is a natural oil you can use to treat many skin and hair issues. It can also be used to treat nails when you have any fungal infections. So, if you want an inexpensive and natural remedy to use at home, make full use of all the tea tree oil benefits. You can keep a bottle of this essential oil and get rid of many of your health issues. So, before you know what the tea tree oil benefits are, let’s check out how you get it?
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What Is Tea Tree Oil?
The leaves of the Melaleuca Alternifolia trees form the tea tree oil. The tree is quite small and originates from New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. You can call the Melaleuca alternifolia plant tea tree too, but don’t confuse it with trees that give you oblong, black, and green tea leaves.
For centuries the Aborigines have used the tea tree oil as a medicine to treat health issues. Australian natives used to crush the leaves of the tea tree plant to obtain all the oil. Then it was used for inhaling during cold/cough or applied topically to treat skin problems.
Currently, you will find this oil to find its absolute pure and undiluted form across the globe. However, you will find a few products ranging from 5 to 50% in strength for skin application.
You will notice that tea tree oil has a few compounds that include having terpinene-4-ol. This is a compound that can destroy fungi, bacteria, and viruses too. Moreover, it also shows effective results in fighting against foreign invaders and germs in your body.
You can use this as a natural remedy to get all the tea tree oil benefits for skin in fungal and bacterial infection conditions. Moreover, apart from healing the condition, it can prevent such skin problems too. So, let us quickly peep into seeing how magically tea tree oil benefits us.
Tea Tree Oil Benefits
Here we have made a list of all the tea tree oil uses for skin, hair, and more. After you finish reading this article, you’re sure to be in absolute amaze how tea tree oil benefits us. So, let us check what the tea tree benefits and uses are:
Used in Hand Sanitizers
With all of us having to use such a lot of sanitizers now, you can use tea tree oil to make a natural homemade sanitizer. Numerous studies show immense results in killing viruses and bacteria that can cause many illnesses. Some of them are streptococcuss pneumoniae, H. influenzae, and E. coli.
Also, numerous studies show that tea tree oil benefits in hand wash to remove E. coli. Next time you run short of any hand sanitizer or handwash, be sure to keep a bottle of concentrated tea tree oil handy!
Used in Insect Repellents
You can use tea tree oil to keep insects away from your skin and home too. A study was done on cows to check whether tea tree oil helped them to keep insects away. So, they were applied tea tree oil and saw that after about 24 hours, the cows with tea tree oil on them had 61% lesser flies than those who were not put any oil on.
Alongside, another study done inside a test tube showed that tea tree oils benefits you by keeping mosquitos away more than DEET too. If you think what DEET is, then it is an ingredient that is actively used in most insect repellents commercially sold.
Can be used as a Natural Deodorant
You already know that tea tree oil uses for skin are tremendous. Moreover, it can treat bacteria, as well. So, you can use tea tree oil to treat your odor in your underarms, mostly caused by bacteria. When you sweat, it doesn’t cause any unpleasant odor. But when each secretion mixes with the glands and the bacteria present on the skin, an unpleasant odor is formed.
The underarm portion usually has the most glands present that are the sole reason for your unpleasant body odor. So, since tea tree oil has the ability to fight bacteria naturally, you can use tea tree oil as a deodorant. And if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on expensive perfumes, keep a bottle of tree oil on your dresser. It is ideally one of the best natural antiperspirant!
Works as an Antiseptic
If you have a minor injury or scrapes on your skin, tea tree oil can help you keep the infection away. That is because when the germs get into your bloodstream, you can get some severe infections.
So, it would help if you disinfected your abrasions and cuts. And to do that, tea tree oil will kill all the bacteria and S. aureus that are major reasons for your wounds to aggravate.
Helps in Healing Wounds
Apart from using tea tree oil to prevent your wounds and cuts from any infection, you can use it to treat them as well. Researches have shown positive results in triggering the work of white blood cells, which helps in healing. Moreover, it also can reduce any inflammation.
A study was conducted on ten participants who had wounds. In the clinical trial, tea oil was applied to see if it helps and boosts the healing process. So, it was seen that the healing process was reduced in all nine participants apart from one.
Consequently, tea tree oil is great to reduce the timing required for wounds to heal. All you need to do apply a few drops each time you change your wound dressing materials.
Helps to Fight Off Acne
It is known to you that tea tree oil uses for skin are immense. So, it possible that it can work as a weapon to fight against any acne you get. Numerous studies show tea tree oil to be a great oil for treating any acne and reducing its severity.
Another study done by using tea tree gel to reduce lesions was so effective that it could replace any over-the-counter medicines. The tea tree gel worked better more than six times than the placebo to reduce acne severity.
One more study also proved that using tea tree oil was much better than benzoyl peroxide. If you are wondering what it is? Well, it is a medication used to treat acne commonly. So, before you add any antiacne gel or salves, use tea tree oil instead.
You can also try using a home remedy using tea tree oil. All you have to do is mix around nine parts of water and only one part of tea tree oil. Then apply that mixture to your affected area for two weeks using a cotton swab. And you’ll see magical results within weeks of using it. But for the desired results, remember to use it twice daily.
Use to Treat Fungal Nail Infection
Having a nail fungus is a very commonly found infection. Even though it may not be a very dangerous problem but it might turn serious in some cases. You may find many medications that can treat nail fungus; some people love to use natural methods to treat fungal nail infection. You will find tea tree oil to treat a fungal nail infection alone or at times used with many other home remedies.
A study was conducted to treat fungal infection, and the participants were given tea tree oil for a long duration of six months. After the study ended, the people were seen to have almost no fungal infection.
So, you can treat your nail fungus by using some tea tree oil and a carrier oil like coconut oil. Mix it well and apply it on the area that is infected. But remember to rinse your hands right after you finish applying the medication. That is because the fungus is very infectious; it can spread over to many more areas too.
Used as a Mouthwash
You already know that numerous studies show that tea tree oil can fight off germs. But do you know it can destroy mouth bacteria too? Numerous researches show that tea tree oil is used to remove bad breath and tooth decay too.
Moreover, another study, too, showed immense results in treating bacteria that cause plaque. It works much better than many oral rinses like chlorhexidine. Also, the best thing about this was that the tea tree oil’s taste was much better than many other oral rinses. But there was a much older study that showed almost no effect of tea tree oil on removing plaque-causing bacteria.
If you want to make a home-made mouthwash that is chemical-free, then take a cup of lukewarm water and mix one teaspoon of tea tree oil in it. Then mix it well and wash your mouth thoroughly. After about swishing your mouth for more than 25 seconds, rinse your mouth with cold water. But remember, to not swallow the tea tree oil mouthwash. It won’t be good for your intestines for the toxicity it contains.
House Cleaner
Apart from all the other tea tree oil benefits, you can use this to clean surfaces too. Moreover, since it works great as a sanitizer, you can use this to disinfect surfaces. Using this as a disinfectant will help you not leave any traces of any chemicals around the surfaces you clean.
All you’ll need to do is use tea tree oil, take a spray bottle, add ¾ cup of water, some ACV, and about 20 drops of tea tree oil. Mix it well and use a soft cloth to wipe the surfaces. Your house will not only be clean but will also have a beautiful fragrance.
Soothes Irritated Skin
You already know that the tea tree oil uses for skin are boundless. It is a very good solution to relieve you from skin inflammation. When you come in contact with any sort allergen like nickel, your skin gets irritated. It is also known as contact dermatitis. You can get this allergy very painful, red, and itchy too. So, you can treat any skin irritation by using tea tree oil. Moreover, many pieces of research show the effectiveness of tea tree oil while treating bug bite too.
Next time you have any skin inflammation problems, you know what oil to apply. But remember never to apply this essential oil in the concentrated form. You need to dilute it in water or carrier oil before application.
Stops Dandruff
Apart from skin benefits, the tea tree oil uses for hair are impactful too. Indeed, a scaly scalp is not very dangerous, but it is embarrassing and extremely annoying too. Though there are not many studies in this regard, the minimum research published has shown a great impact in treating dry scalp.
When a study was conducted for four weeks, tea tree oil was used in shampoo to treat dandruff in a few participants. It was seen that 40% of the people had an improvement in stopping dandruff. Another group also reported improvements in itchiness, greasiness, and dandruff severity in the participants.
Helps in Treating Athlete’s Foot
Controlling an athlete’s foot can be a tough thing. The athlete’s foot is also known as tinea pedis, which is a highly contagious fungus infection. It can turn extremely severe and spread to your hands and toenails. You may get symptoms like redness, blisters, peeling, and cracking.
Although numerous medicines can treat any fungal infection, tea tree oil can be a natural remedy for treating an athlete’s foot.
Final Thoughts
Now you know well enough that tea tree oil benefits and have several uses. However, it is not the ultimate medication for treating skin, hair, and other issues. You can easily use this inexpensive and natural remedy at home. But always remember to dilute the concentrated form of this before applying.
