Staphylococcus aureus is a common bacteria that can cause skin problems, including pimples, rashes and boils. Although symptoms are usually minor, staph infections can occasionally become serious and even life-threatening. Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is a type of staph that has developed resistance to certain antibiotics. If you have symptoms of a staph infection, see your doctor. Tea tree oil has long been advised by herbalists to kill bacteria and promote healthy skin; some clinical evidence supports this practice. Consult your doctor before using tea tree oil.
MRSA Features
Staphylococcus aureus is an extremely common pathogen, with Harvard Health Publications noting that it is found on the skin or in the nose of roughly a third of the United States population. Symptoms of staph infection include skin lesions -- often containing pus -- as well as areas of reddened, itchy or painful skin. Although staph sometimes causes serious complications -- including pneumonia and bloodstream infections -- most of the time it is of only minor medical consequence; often, it causes no symptoms at all. MRSA -- although becoming increasingly common -- is much less prevalent than staph. MayoClinic.com estimates that as of 2011, MRSA is carried by 1 percent of the people in the United States. Resistant to penicillin -- as well as newer drugs such as methicillin and oxicillin -- MRSA is currently treated with vancomycin.
Tea Tree Oil Features
The tea tree -- botanically known as melaleuca alternifolia -- is an evergreen shrub native to Australia that features needle-like leaves and white flowers in summer. Tea tree oil -- derived from the crushed leaves -- has been used by the indigenous people of Australia for coughs, colds, rashes, wounds and skin infections. It was also utilized during World War II to treat injuries in munitions factory workers. Today, tea tree oil is used for skin problems such as burns, cuts, nail infections and athlete's foot. It is also used cosmetically in soaps, shampoos and toothpaste.
Tea tree oil is available not only as an essential oil but as a nasal cream, which may be applied three times a day for five days. Consult your doctor before using tea tree oil, and don't use it if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Tea tree oil is for topical use only.
Constituents and Effects
Tea tree oil contains organic chemicals called terpenoids, which include pinene, cymene, cineole and limonene. Drugs.com, which provides medically reviewed information to consumers, credits tea tree oil with bactericidal effects against staphylococcus in test tubes. Tea tree oil is also active against herpes simplex, tinea pedis -- the fungus responsible for ringworm -- and onchomycosis, which causes fungal nail infections.
Research
In a randomized, controlled trial published in 2004 in "Journal of Hospital Infections," researchers compared the effects of tea tree oil against MRSA with the effects of conventional treatments such as chlorhexidine and sulfadizine. They concluded that tea tree oil was superior to both of the medications in clearing skin and lesions of the pathogen.
References
- Drugs.com: Complete Tea Tree Oil Information
- Blue Shield Complementary and Alternative Health: Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia)
- Harvard Health Publications; Protect Yourself From the MRSA "Suberbug"; Staff; November 2008
- MayoClinic.com; MRSA Infection; Mayo Clinic Staff; May 2010
- "Journal of Hospital Infections"; A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Tea Tree Topical Preparations Versus a Standard Topical Regimen For The Clearance of MRSA Colonization; M.S. Dryden et al.; April 2004
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