Welcome to the Podiatry Arena forums

You are currently viewing our podiatry forum as a guest which gives you limited access to view all podiatry discussions and access our other features. By joining our free global community of Podiatrists and other interested foot health care professionals you will have access to post podiatry topics (answer and ask questions), communicate privately with other members, upload content, view attachments, receive a weekly email update of new discussions, access other special features. Registered users do not get displayed the advertisements in posted messages. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our global Podiatry community today!

  1. Have you considered the Clinical Biomechanics Boot Camp Online, for taking it to the next level? See here for more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
Have you considered the Clinical Biomechanics Boot Camp Online, for taking it to the next level? See here for more.
Dismiss Notice
Have you liked us on Facebook to get our updates? Please do. Click here for our Facebook page.
Dismiss Notice
Do you get the weekly newsletter that Podiatry Arena sends out to update everybody? If not, click here to organise this.

Is there a place for tea tree oil in foot care?

Discussion in 'General Issues and Discussion Forum' started by Kelvin08, Oct 29, 2008.

  1. blinda

    blinda MVP

    You pipped me to the post, Craig.
     
  2. fishpod

    fishpod Well-Known Member

    i guess its a no then.
     
  3. blinda

    blinda MVP

    For those that don`t know;

    click here
     
  4. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    The Effect of Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) on Wound Healing Using a Dressing Model
    Karen B. Chin and Barbara Cordell.
    The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. -Not available-, ahead of print. doi:10.1089/acm.2012.0787.
     
  5. blinda

    blinda MVP

  6. [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Really. This warrants further research? If you make 4 "pairs" and assuming all else is equal, you will get one group do better than the other 62.5% of the time!

    My brain hurts.
     
  7. Tea tree oil is a great all purpose essential oil. It has a wide range of uses. You can use this oil for foot care as well. It is good for athletes foot, cracking heals, Ingrown Toenails, Toenail Fugal Infections and other foot care. The oil provides multiple benefits. you can get more information regarding tea tree oil at {spam link drop removed}.
     
  8. wdd

    wdd Well-Known Member

    Well done rechalchristine. You have obviously read all of the research papers referred to in this thread then looked at the counterevidence offered by useessentialoil and then used your own intelligence and analytical powers to evaluate the evidence and come to your own conclusion.

    What more can we ask for?

    You have to admit the human mind is amazing. No?

    Bill
     
  9. blinda

    blinda MVP

    *&(% my hat, I never knew that!


    Smells like white-spirit...cos it `essentially` is.
     
  10. Spammers gonna spam. Big business apparently.

    Ingrown toenails. Right you are.
     
  11. admin

    admin Administrator Staff Member

    Goodbye.
     
  12. drsarbes

    drsarbes Well-Known Member

    Q: Is there a place for tea tree oil in foot care?

    A: No.
     
  13. Other random questions and answers:

    Q. Is there a place for Lysergic acid diethylamide in foot care?

    A. There's a fish swimming in my light bulb.
     
  14. drsarbes

    drsarbes Well-Known Member

    Q: Is there a place for sarcasm on the Podiatry Arena

    A: If there wasn't would I even sign in?
     
  15. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    A study on extraction and antifungal activity against dermatophytes fungi of tea tree oil.
    Klinsuknon, K.; Haruthaitanasun, V.; Sukatta, U.; Meaktrong, W.; Khacharat, L.
    Proceedings of the 51st Kasetsart University Annual Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, 5-7 February 2013 2013 pp. P124
     
  16. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    A randomized controlled trial of topical tea tree preparation for MRSA colonized wounds
    Rainbow L.P. Lee, Polly H.M. Leung, Thomas K.S. Wong
    International Journal of Nursing Sciences; Available online 12 March 2014
     
  17. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

    Articles:
    8
    WTF? so TTO is better than saline! Why not compare TTO to standard wound care and treatment rather than saline! Who uses sale dsg's these days for wounds!
    Red flag. Any RCT that has equal numbers in each group has to be questioned.
     
  18. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    The optimal patch test concentration for ascaridole as a sensitizing component of tea tree oil
    Wietske Andrea Christoffers et al
    Contact Dermatitis; Early View
     
  19. wdd

    wdd Well-Known Member

    Is there a place for tea tree oli in foot care?

    The definitive answer is an overwhelming YES, YES, YES but as part of a combination therapy.

    As you have highlighted in this thread TTO creates excellent results in vitro. However it was it's success in a "dressing model" that allowed me to make that innovative congnitive leap that allows me to influence the pedal welfare of my patients using what I call a catalytic dressing model. In fact I don't call her a catalytic dressing model, I call her Suzzie.

    My cognitive leap followed from the mental juxapositioning of the ideas of alternative therapies and child safe attenuated voodoo, ie the sharp objects are replaced by alternative therapies such as homeopathy or in this case TTO (I would like to be able to extend the alternative therapies to include acupuncture but Suzzie protests by deflating) and the potential pathological outcomes are prevented.

    In practice Suzzie sits quietly in the corner of the surgery surveying the scene in a serene if somewhat overexposed way until required to demonstrate her powers.

    Whenever alternative therapies/TTO are suggested the said AT/TTO is applied to some aspect of her anatomy. I find that the therapeutic outcome is massively enhanced if the area of application is selected and the application is undertaken by the patient.

    So far there have been no adverse reactions, ie no gangrene, no allergic responses, no infections, etc. The only event that might be classified as an adverse reaction was being invited for interview at the local police station.

    Bill
     
  20. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    In Vitro activity of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil on filamentous fungi and toxicity to human cells
    Diane C. Homeyer et al
    Med Mycol (2015); January 28, 2015
     
  21. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Secondary effects of topical application of an essential oil. Allergic contact dermatitis due to tea tree oil
    Santesteban Muruzábal R, Hervella Garcés M, Larrea García M, Loidi Pascual L, Agulló Pérez A, Yanguas Bayona I.
    An Sist Sanit Navar. 2015 enero-abril;38(1):163-167
     
  22. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Antifungal modes of action of tea tree oil and its two characteristic components against Botrytis cinerea
    D. Yu, J. Wang, X. Shao, F. Xu and H. Wang
    Journal of Applied Microbiology; Accepted Article
     
  23. drhunt1

    drhunt1 Well-Known Member

    Just another aromatic compound designed to fight mold, mildew and fungi in the plant community. Similar in structure to camphor, carvachrol and thymol. I knew about the beneficial effects of oil of oregano >15 years ago. Told my former classmate about cavrachrol back then...it is now in his formula, Terpenicol, used for fungal nails.
     
  24. fishpod

    fishpod Well-Known Member

    no no no
     
  25. drhunt1

    drhunt1 Well-Known Member

  26. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

    Articles:
    8
  27. drhunt1

    drhunt1 Well-Known Member

    Similar, phenol based, aromatic compounds developed in the floral communities to fight mold, mildew and fungi. Look at the chemical structure of these compounds...from camphor, to tea tree oil, to thymol, etc. Fungistatic, and in the case of carvracol, bacteriostatic as well.
     
  28. Tracy.gill

    Tracy.gill Active Member

    There is a place for tea tree or other essential oils to be used for conditions of the foot or nail. I have been using essential oils and homeopathic Thuja for verruca with some surprising success. Could it be to do with educating the public to treat their condition regularly ? Is it only placebo? (which can be an effective treatment modality in itself).

    They smell somewhat nicer than other OTC or professional products, so again convincing the mind it is doing some good. After 20 years of using essential oils ( I am a qualified Aromatherapist as well as a Pod) I have seen a great reduction or disappearance of VPs which can be down to a host of related factors such response from the immune system, or just even treating the condition by scalpel removal? I have been documenting results of essential oils and will be writing a paper on them soon, as I have found them effective, but at the same time just as effective as cryosurgery or dry needling. So they are just another modality to use in our ever expanding toolbox of treatments.

    I do recommend diluting the essential oils as they can be irritant to healthy skin or indeed buying them already diluted in a carrier oil. Yet again some training in their use or research on their use before using them will enhance your knowledge as patients do ask for alternatives.
     
  29. blinda

    blinda MVP

    I look forward to reading the results of your trial. Just one question; is it 'dry needling' or 'needling', as first described by Falknor, that you perform?
     
  30. Simon Ross

    Simon Ross Active Member

    What wise man Ivan Bristow said about Tea Tree Oil

    Tea tree oil does kill fungus and is natural, but tea tree oil is an irritant to 5% of patients (dermatitis). A trial had to be stopped because of it. More effective to use an anti-fungal than tea tree oil! In a trial the adverse event rate must be <0.01% for an anti-fungal (or it is thrown out), tea tree oil is 5%. They think that the irritation is tinea (when in fact it is eczema) so they put more TTO on it (thinking its fungus), making it worse. A lot of irritant dermatitis is caused by TTO.
     
  31. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

    Articles:
    8
    Re: What wise man Ivan Bristow said about Tea Tree Oil

    Yes, in a test tube, but in vivo studies mostly show it does not work
    so is arsenic, UV radiation, etc; 'natural' is a fallacy,
    Exactly!
     
  32. blinda

    blinda MVP

    Re: What wise man Ivan Bristow said about Tea Tree Oil

    Yes, Simon. You are correct. Among the natural active ingredients in TTO are the naturally volatile substances; terpenoids. And these natural oils are highly susceptible to oxidate. Naturally. This oxidation produces peroxides, rendering the TTO a natural bleach. And, as we all know; Domestos kills germs. Dead. But Domestos is also a skin irritant and documented as a hazardous product & a contact allergy sensitizer, as is TTO.

    I am looking forward to reading Tracy Gill`s paper because, contact allergy aside, there are no published trials, to date, indicating that TTO (or any other essential oil) has virucidal activity against HPV in vivo. There was one study which suggested it was effective in destroying a sub-type of Herpes virus, but that was in vitro. So, Tracy`s paper should be pretty groundbreaking.

    Cheers,
    Bel
     
  33. It got rid of my fungal nail infection x 2.
     
  34. fishpod

    fishpod Well-Known Member

    dear dr hunt . should podiatrists be using tt oil i think not . dont understand your post as that stuff is not tt oil and is not used to treat feet. lots of other evidence based treatments to use. so why use crap that causes irritation to the skin.
     
  35. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Effect of tea tree oil on Staphylococcus aureus growth and enterotoxin production
    Ce Shi et al
    Food Control; 3 November 2015
     
  36. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Tea tree oil: contact allergy and chemical composition.
    de Groot AC, Schmidt E
    Contact Dermatitis. 2016 May 13
     
  37. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    The dynamics and mechanism of the antimicrobial activity of tea tree oil against bacteria and fungi
    Wen-Ru Li, Hai-Ling Li, Qing-Shan Shi , Ting-Li Sun, Xiao-Bao Xie, Bin Song, Xiao-Mo Huang
    Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology; pp 1-11; 07 July 2016
     
  38. drhunt1

    drhunt1 Well-Known Member

    Almost a year old...but my response is well worth it. ANY chemical compound can cause skin irritation...the idea is to use the TTO judiciously and not slop it all over the eponychium and hyponychium. These aromatic compounds are NOT fungicidal, but fungistatic. They stop the growth phase of the fungus but does not destroy the spore. If one takes the time to research all the various compounds, they are very similar...and fall into the aromatic compound category. TTO, thymol, carvacrol, camphor...all very similar, with a benzene ring as the common sub-structure. The plant community has to have methods to prevent mold, mildew and fungus infections, and this is certainly one of them.

    Podiatrists have been using these compounds for YEARS with fairly decent results. There must be a reason why.
     
  39. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Trace determination of skin-irritating metals in tea tree oil by GFAAS
    Michaela Zeiner et al
    Microchemical Journal; 30 December 2016
     
  40. zsuzsanna

    zsuzsanna Active Member

    Can you advise me if fungal infection can cause the end of the nail to be lifted permanently?
     
Loading...

Share This Page