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Tea tree oil or Melaleuca oil is a potent essential oil derived from an Australian tea tree with an intense smell and antimicrobial properties. That alternative medicine is known for banishing viruses and bacteria as Australia’s aboriginal people discovered the oil’s benefits.
Australian aborigines treated infections and wounds with tea tree oil, and you will see it as a common ingredient in soaps, shampoos, as well as moisturizers. You see, ordinary antiseptic soaps and cleaners contain tea tree oil to help keep infections at bay as well. This potent oil treats common ailments such as fungal infections and acne; however, it can also treat warts.
What Causes Warts?
The cause of warts is a strain of the HPV virus, which is relatively harmless. That is not to be confused with the HPV strain that can cause cervical cancer, which the Gardasil vaccine can help prevent. There is no vaccine for the virus strain that causes warts since there is no need for one since it does not cause significant problems.
However, warts are uncomfortable and have a small pimple on the affected area of the skin. They can cause a lot of pain, in addition to embarrassment. In addition to that, warts are incredibly contagious. If you ignore them, then it can take around two years to disappear on their own completely. The good news is that tea tree oil can treat warts.
How Can Tea Tree Oil Treat Warts?
Several reasons make tea tree oil the right treatment for warts. Firstly, it contains antiviral properties. The discovery emerged back in 2001 that a combination of eucalyptus oil and tea tree oil effectively treated the herpes simplex virus. In addition to that, in 2013, the discovery emerged that this essential oil can prevent influenza spread. Even though no conclusive tests exist for it combating HPV, the possibility is quite strong. However, there are other reasons why this is the right treatment for warts and boosts the immune system.
Tea tree oil can activate the immune system as the white blood cells have a role to kill off infections. Therefore, tea tree oil may be useful for treating warts because it can activate white blood cells. Even if the essential oil is not overly effective with treating the HPV itself, perhaps the fact it is an excellent immune booster is a reason for it. However, there could potentially be one another reason why this is the right treatment. The fact that tea tree oil has potent cleansing properties may be a sufficient reason as well.
The fact that tea tree oil is a powerful cleanser may be a significant reason for treating warts. The essential oil is a natural cleanser that prevents the spread of infections. This purpose of the oil does not necessarily treat warts that you have already. However, it can help prevent the spread of warts in communal spaces such as cafeterias, gyms, or change rooms since warts are very contagious. If you clean these communal areas with tea tree oil, that can prevent the spread of warts.
Either way, it is known that tea tree oil does treat warts. That is even though there is a lot of speculation behind the reason for it. You can use tea tree oil for treating warts in various ways.
How Do You Treat Warts With Tea Tree Oil?
There are various ways of using tea tree oil for wart treatment. The method of treatment or removal of warts is entirely up to you. Let’s now look at the various options:
1. Acid Peel
The most common type of treatment of warts is the acid peel. Creating an acid peel is to use an over-the-counter acne cream treatment that contains salicylic acid, a mild acid. Then add several drops to the cream and apply the mixture onto your wart once a day. Keep doing it until you see that the skin with the wart peels off, which will kill off the wart.
2. Completely Concentrated
If you want to use the concentrated dose of tea tree oil to treat your warts, you can get a five percent, ten percent, and even a 100 percent concentration. If you choose to use a highly concentrated tea tree oil, then infuse it into a cotton ball. Then tape the oil-infused cotton ball to your wart and leave it there for five to ten minutes two to three times a day.
You can also tape it to your wart overnight if you prefer to do that. If you are too busy during the day to the point that you know you will forget to treat your wart since it requires multiple treatments, you are better off taping it to your affected skin overnight.
3. Mix Tea Tree Oil With Eucalyptus Oil
You can mix equal parts of tea tree oil and eucalyptus oil and infuse it with a cotton ball or cotton pad. Take a bandage and use to hold the infused cotton piece to your wart every night before you go to bed. And you will want to do this each night until you see that the wart isn’t there anymore.
4. Mix Tea Tree Oil With Sandalwood Oil
You can mix equal parts of sandalwood oil to tea tree oil and rub the mixture onto the wart for a minute two times daily for 12 weeks or longer. You will do that until the wart disappears. That is just an option for you to utilize if you don’t like the other options for wart removal with tea tree oil.
Those are all straightforward. However, you might wonder about the side effects of using tea tree oil to remove warts. Let’s talk more about that.
Side Effects Of Using Tea Tree Oil To Remove Warts
The first thing to know is never to ingest tea tree oil as it is toxic internally and for topical use only. However, a small number of people have experienced allergic reactions to tea tree oil. If you are unsure whether or not you have an allergy to the essential oil, then conduct a patch test before using it and monitor your skin for rashes, hives, itching, or other allergic reactions for 24 hours. If you do develop an allergic reaction, then do not use it for wart removal.
If it appears that you do not have an allergy to tea tree oil, then you will not experience side effects. If you experience some mild itchiness and redness, then that is normal and results from the skin and wart falling off, especially if you are doing the acid peel option.
Keep in mind that the odd time the wart you have cannot disappear with tea tree oil as you will need to see your doctor instead. The only way you know is if there isn’t a change after doing treatments for at least 12 weeks. And there are times the only option for wart removal is in-office freezing by your doctor or dermatologist.
Conclusion
Warts are embarrassing, but they are not dangerous. They are the result of several of the HPV strains, which is why warts are incredibly contagious. However, the good news is that you can treat your warts at home using tea tree oil or melaleuca oil.
There are various ways of doing so, and as long as you do not have an allergy to the essential oil, you will not face too many side effects other than some itchiness and mild irritation. You may not even experience that at all. Either way, you will be delighted once your wart disappears. The bonus of tea tree oil is that it has a pleasant aroma.