Best Natural Acne Treatment

According to Satchell et al, in their article discussing the use of tea tree oil for the treatment of dandruff, published in the December 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, tea tree oil is an essential oil extracted primarily from the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia, a shrub-like tree native to Australia. Tea tree oil has been used as a natural remedy for a variety of skin complaints for many years. It has been used for tinea pedis, onychomycosis, trichomonal vaginitis, and acne. Tea tree oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and terpenes, consisting of almost 100 substances, although the antimicrobial activity appears to be related to the major component, terpinen-4-ol. The precise mechanisms by which tea tree oil manifests its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects are currently under scrutiny. Hada et al demonstrated that the rate of leakage of potassium ions from Staphylococcus aureus was dependent on the concentration of tea tree oil, as published in the June 2003 issue of the Journal of Microbiology Methods. In vitro studies have confirmed that tea tree oil has therapeutic effectiveness against dermatophytes and yeasts, particularly Candida albicans, as reported by Mondello et al in the May 2003 issue of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Brand et al reported in the April 2001 issue of Inflammation Research that tea tree oil components suppress the production of superoxide by monocytes, but not neutrophils, suggesting the potential for selective regulation of cell components during inflammation. Tea tree oil has been demonstrated to reduce histamine-induced skin inflammation in a study reported by Koh et al in the December 2002 issue of the British Journal of Dermatology. The uses of tea tree oil revolve around its antimicrobial properties. As mentioned earlier, Satchell reported the successful use of 5% tea tree oil shampoo for the successful treatment of dandruff. In this study, 126 patients, aged 14 and older, were randomly assigned to receive either 5% tea tree oil shampoo or placebo, which was used daily for 4 weeks. The tea tree oil group showed a 41% improvement compared with 11% in the placebo group. In another study of 158 patients with interdigital tinea pedis published in the August 2002 issue of the Autralasian Journal of Dermatology, Satchell demonstrated a mycological cure rate of 64% in those patients treated with 50% tea tree oil, compared to31% in the placebo group.

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