Properties and recommendations for the use of tea tree oil from nail fungus
Infection with nail fungus is quite simple. For the purpose of treating this pathology, you can apply various medications or use traditional methods. This article will talk in more detail about the properties of tea tree oil, as well as recommendations for using such a tool.
Description of the disease
Nail fungus also has a scientific name - onychomycosis. It is worth noting that this pathology is quite insidious. Adverse symptoms develop gradually. The first clinical signs of onychomycosis are usually difficult to detect. Such a late diagnosis usually leads to an untimely start of treatment.
Initially, onychomycosis causes only a change in the appearance of the nail plates on the hands or feet. As the disease develops, other symptoms begin to occur in an infected person. For example, when the disease progresses in a patient suffering from onychomycosis, pain appears in the fingers.
The danger of this disease is also that it quickly spreads from an infected person to a healthy one. It is possible to get infected with nail fungus even in everyday contact. Doctors note and family cases of such diseases.
You can suspect onychomycosis yourself. To do this, you should only closely monitor the appearance of your fingers. Consider the characteristic signs of illness.
- Change the shape of the nail plate. The edges of the plates begin to crumble, which leads to the fact that the appearance of nails becomes careless.
- Deformation changes. The shape of the nail plate changes due to the defeat of its pathogenic fungi.
- Redness around the nail rollers. Such changes are due to the inflammatory process, which develops in response to fungal attack on the nail plates.
- The appearance of roughness. Healthy nails should be smooth to the touch. With the defeat of the fungus, they become rough and uneven.
- Change the color of the nail plate. So, the nails affected by fungi, as a rule, get yellowish or gray coloring. Brown or brown spots may also appear on the nail plates.
Treatment of onychomycosis is long. Not all products can cope with fungi.
Often, in the course of treatment, a person suffering from this disease may change drugs several times, since they are simply ineffective.
Useful properties of oil
In folk medicine, there are quite a lot of various tools that can stop the development of this disease. There are also other means to help the sick person recover. They should be applied for a long time. To achieve complete cleansing of the affected nail plates in just a couple of applications is simply impossible.
Tea tree oil is one of the frequently used means to eliminate the adverse symptoms of onychomycosis. This essential oil contains a whole range of active substances that help in the fight against disease-causing fungi. Some components are so unique that they are quite rare in nature.
The fact that tea tree oil helps from onychomycosis, people have learned a long time ago. However, it was only with the development of science that scientists discovered that this product actually contains a multitude of active ingredients that can have a disastrous effect on fungi.
The spectrum of action of this oil on the body is huge. So, it can have the following actions.
- Local anesthesia. After using this product, pain in the affected area is reduced, inflammation disappears, itching and burning disappear.
- Enhance local immunity. Reducing inflammation occurs largely due to the activation of cells of the immune system.
- Bactericidal effect. The active ingredients in the product can have a negative effect not only on fungi, but also on viruses and bacteria that can cause dangerous diseases.
Contraindications
Tea tree oil for external use is suitable for many. However, in some pathologies it cannot be used. So, you should not use this tool for people who are allergic or have individual hypersensitivity to this product. Such an oily product is also not suitable for exacerbation of bronchial asthma.
Expectant mothers should not use tea tree oil without first consulting a doctor.
Tea tree oil should not be applied for allergic dermatoses. If it comes in contact with irritated skin, it can cause pain. People who are very sensitive to any chemicals and essential oils should not be applied in a concentrated form to tea tree oil. They should be diluted before applying the oil product with some other oil, for example, sunflower or olive oil.
How to choose?
The effectiveness of therapy also depends on the quality of the oil. Even in expensive shops you can buy a fake. Unfortunately, the high cost of the product does not mean that it is of high quality. Experts who understand the essential oils, say that at the present time to find a really good oil can be difficult.
It is better to focus on proven manufacturers. Most quality products are packed in glass containers. Tea tree oil, produced in plastic containers, is usually of lower quality.
The use of this oil product, according to many people who have tried it, is most effective in the early stages of the disease. If a fungal infection occurs for a long time, then it is almost impossible to cure it by using only tea tree oil. In this case, the appointment of intensive drugs that can suppress the growth of pathogenic fungi, and affect the level of systemic immunity. Such complex therapy is prescribed only by a doctor.
Application Methods
To use this tool can be different. So, the most commonly used methods of using this product are usually the following:
- direct rubbing into the affected areas;
- medical applications;
- antiseptic baths.
Various other components that have antifungal effects can be added to the tea tree oil.
This combination therapy helps to cope with the unfavorable symptoms of nail fungus much more effectively. Use these funds should be a course to achieve improved well-being.
The method of using the oil depends not only on the stage of the disease, but also on the location of the damage. So, for the treatment of one nail, you can use direct rubbing oil into the affected nail plate. If the fungus affects all the nails of the foot or hand, then in this case it is more rational to use the healing baths.
Before you begin to treat onychomycosis, be sure to be patient. Therapy of this disease in most cases is long. If there are several people in the family suffering from onychomycosis, then treatment should be carried out simultaneously for all. When carrying out therapy it is necessary to evaluate its effectiveness.If, against the background of the use of such a remedy, there was no improvement, then in that case you should definitely contact a dermatologist.
Rules of the procedure
Before using the oil for rubbing into the nail plate, nails should be prepared. To do this, an onychomycosis affected foot or hand should be placed in a warm bath. The water temperature of this bath should be absolutely comfortable. Keep your nails in the water should be within 5-8 minutes. During this time they should become softer.
After that, steamed nail plate should be a little clean. To do this, you can use pumice. It is not worth rubbing the nails too much, as this may cause damage.
This mechanical treatment is only necessary so that all the active ingredients contained in the tea tree oil can penetrate deeper into the nail.
Medicinal oil products that can be bought in pharmacies usually have a rather intensive composition. Components present in them in some people may trigger allergic symptoms. In order to determine whether a person planning to use tea tree oil is allergic or hypersensitive, he should apply a small amount of the oily product to the skin. For such a test, a zone near the elbow bend or wrist is better suited, since the skin is rather thin there.
To test individual sensitivity, it is usually enough to apply only a few drops of oil. After that, wait a few minutes. If after 10-15 minutes the color of the skin has not changed, and there are no rashes, the tea tree oil can also be used to treat nails.
Apply the oil product should be on the entire surface of the nail. Also, a little oil should be applied to the periungual rollers. After that, you should put on clean socks on your feet. It is necessary to carry out such treatment of damaged nails twice a day until the moment when the adverse symptoms of a fungal disease do not diminish.
With multiple lesions of the nails, therapeutic baths are well suited. In order to carry out such a procedure, you will need:
- water - 2.5 liters;
- Baking soda - 2 tbsp. l .;
- salt (it is better to take sea) - 1 tbsp. l .;
- tea tree oil - 9-11 drops.
Water for this treatment procedure must be quite hot, but not burning. The optimum temperature is about 45 degrees. It is necessary to add soda, sea salt and oil product to the heated water, and then mix everything thoroughly. After that, the foot should be placed in the bath, affected by the fungus, and keep until the water cools down.
Then the foot from the water should be pulled out, removed with the help of special scissors all the horny skin, and then process the nails with tea tree oil. If desired, after such a medical bath, you can use on nails and medicinal ointments or varnishes that have antifungal action.
In order to achieve a good result, such a therapeutic procedure should be carried out 2-3 times a week. After one course of such baths, the structure of the nails will improve, and the adverse symptoms will decrease.
Tea tree oil goes well with other products. So, by adding olive oil to it, you can make an excellent remedy for the treatment of nails affected by fungi. Mix oil should be in a ratio of 1: 2, as tea tree oil is quite concentrated. People who have tried this method of treatment, note that it helps a lot in the early stages of the disease.
Apply therapeutic oil mixture on the affected nails should be twice a day. It is very important that the nails before this were thoroughly washed and dried.
Apply the product better rubbing movements. The optimal course of treatment should be about a month.
Tea tree oil can also be used for lotions.To do this, a few drops of the oil product should be applied to a cotton pad. It is better for each affected nail to use a separate cotton pad. The exposure time of the oil on the nails should be about 10-12 minutes. After that, wadded disk should be removed, and the remaining oil wipe.
Apply oil in different ways. Someone uses cotton swabs for this, while others treat the nails with a pipette located in a bottle with a remedy. For applying oil, you can also use an old toothbrush.
There is another way to use tea tree oil to treat onychomycosis of the feet. It is quite simple and accessible to everyone. To do this, in a normal cotton sock should drip a few drops of oil product. After that, the sock must be worn on the leg, it is better to carry out such a procedure at night. In the morning, you should take off the sock and rinse the skin of the foot well from oil residue.
Tea tree oil is suitable not only for the treatment of onychomycosis, but also for the prevention of this pathology. So, the natural oil product can be added to various foot creams or lotions. The use of such funds is a good prevention of fungal infection.
For more information about all the miraculous properties of tea tree oil learn from the following video.