Tea Tree Oil for Acne
Tea Tree Oil has been found effective against acne
As I’ve mentioned previously tea tree oil is a great acne treatment due to its anti-bacterial properties.
[Important: Tea tree oil is in no way related to tea - Camellia Sinensis - its an entirely separate species of plant]
Tea tree oil has been getting used as an acne treatment only for the past decade as companies have jumped on the bandwagon of fresh, organic natural skin care products. The actual ingredient in the oil that has the anti bacterial effect is called terpinen-4-ol.
One of the biggest standard treatments for acne is called benzoyl peroxide but when this was compared to tea tree oil for acne treatment it didn’t fair well. Tea tree oil caused far less irritation and dryness than the peroxide solution.
Although its use as an acne remedy is well established there’s only ever been a single study conducted for tea tree oil in the treatment of acne and that was at the Royal Prince Alfred hospital in Australia (where tea tree grows). 124 people were tested with one group being given 5% tea tree oil and the other 5% benzoyl peroxide. Both groups had a reduction in the severity of their acne but the peroxide gorup had the greatest reduction.
This however, should be considered with the fact that tea tree oil has a far less harmful effect on the skins health. Lacking much of the side effects of the peroxide such as dryness, itchiness and soreness.
For people with sensitive skin or who wish to be a little more kind to their skin then tea tree oil is a very good replacement to the harsher products out there.
