
- #TEA TREE TOOTHPICKS SKIN#
- #TEA TREE TOOTHPICKS PLUS#
#TEA TREE TOOTHPICKS SKIN#
Infusions made from crushed fresh leaves are used to treat coughs, colds, and skin infections. RemediesĬrushed leaves have long been used in hot water as an inhalent to relieve sinus congestion. coli, Enterobacter, Fusobacterium, Gonococcus, Hemophilus, Herpes viruses, Meningococcus, Microsporium, Peptococcus, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Spirochetes, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Trichinosis, Trichophyton. The following is a list of organisms that tea tree oil has proven its effectiveness against: aspergillus, bacteroides, Clostridium, Cryptosporidium, Diptheroids, E. Testing has found it effective against many other organisms as well, including all strains of candida except Epidermophyton floccosum, all sixty-four strains of Malassezia furfur, and eighty other types of disease-causing fungi. It is especially useful as a hospital disinfectant as it kills antibiotic resistant strains of Staphylococcus. It is these antiseptic properties that make it especially valuable in treating various skin infections. Cineole, on the other hand, can irritate the skin of some people, but has expectorant and antiseptic properties.
Terpinen-4-ol is a powerful germacide, fungicide, and significantly antiseptic but well tolerated by the skin.
#TEA TREE TOOTHPICKS PLUS#
Most of these compounds are chemicals classified as either terpene hydrocarbons (pinene) or oxygenated terpenes (mostly 60% terpinen-4-ol plus cineole).
Some of these compounds are active against viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Scientists have identified eighty of the estimated one hundred compounds in tea tree oil, and a few are unique to the plant.
volatile oil (percentages are variable, but basically -– terpinen-4-ol, gamma-terpinene, alpha-terpinene, and cineol ). Demand for the oil has increased from about ten tons in the early 1990s to more than two hundred tons today.Įxtensive research in the 1960s showed that tea tree was very effective in treating a broad range of infectious conditions, especially fungal skin conditions, as well as warts, acne, and vaginal yeast infections. Tea tree oil was almost forgotten but, with the growing problems of antibiotic-resistant organisms, it has, once again, made a revival. As with all things, demand soon quickly outstripped supply and interest waned after the advent of penicillin. It was standard issue for first aid kits for British and Australian soldiers stationed in the tropics during WWII, and proved to be so valuable that workers who processed it were exempt from military duty. Bushmen and adventurers would not enter the wilderness without it. By 1925, Penfold determined that the oil was twelve times as potent as phenol, the standard by which all antiseptics were measured at the time.Īustralian pharmacists and doctors then began dispensing tea tree as a front-line antiseptic. Penfold, studied the oil and discovered its antiseptic properties. But this information did not make an impact on the rest of the world until the 1920s when a Syndey research chemist, A. On later voyages, a botanist who travelled with Captain Cook observed how the aborgines used the shrub to heal infected wounds. The crew brewed a lemon-flavoured tea from the leaves and added it to a beer they had concocted. Native Australians have used tea tree oil for centuries, but it was unknown to the rest of the world until the late 1700s when Captain James Cook led an expedition there and began experimenting with the leaves. The leaves and small branches are picked throughout the year and distilled to produce the essential oil. The Tea Tree produces an essential oil that has unique infection-fighting properties. The tree flourishes wild in swampy areas in northern New South Wales and Queensland, but is now extensively cultivated, especially on plantations in Asia and other parts of the world. The evergreen shrub is related to the myrtle tree, reaching over twenty feet in height and having a papery bark, pointed needle-like leaves, and heads of yellow or purplish flowers that when open, resemble a puffy, feathery mass. Native to Australia and Tazmania, tea tree is now widely used in Europe, Australia, and North America. Melaleucea linariifolia has an essential oil that is very similar to tea tree.
Melaleucea viridiflora (Niauli is a broad-leafed paperbark tree.).Melaleuca leucadendron (Cajuput, White Tea Tree, Swamp Tea Tree, Paperbark Tree, White Wood).Other species that provide valuable oil:.