Tea Tree

Tea Tree Oil for Slow Healing Wounds- Case Study

I thought this case study was interesting not only for diabetic wound care but other slow healing or infected wounds as well. My husband, who is active, in sports has had a couple of foot blisters become abscesses and one post-surgical wound infection. The post surgical wound infection was serious and treated with anti-biotics but the wound care was similar to this case below in that it consisted of irrigation and packing with anti-microbial products. The other 2 smaller abscesses I treated with foot poultices that opened the abscesses and allowed them to drain and essential oils to aid healing.  I was successful with both of these smaller infections. This case study highlights how essential oils can be employed for non-healing open wounds.

Altern Ther Health Med. 2011 Mar-Apr;17(2):46-7.
Chronic wound treatment with topical tea tree oil.

 

  • 85 year old man
  • smoker, non-diabetic, moderately active
  • following surgery for a ruptured aneurysm (May 2006) he reported foot pain and a non-healing sore on his left foot (Nov 2007) and admitted to hospital (Dec 2007) for a below knee amputation
  • Feb 2008- Two nickel sized areas 2 cm deep were observed on the stump  with no signs of infection - standard wound care was ordered
  • Mar 2008- Another surgery was scheduled to further amputate 2-3 inches of the leg
  • Patient wished to avoid surgery because of past narcotic reaction
  • A alternative wound treatment was suggested by the primary health advocate of 7-10% tea tree oil and the surgeon agreed
  • A solution of 10% organic tea tree oil and 90% organic pumpkin seed oil was used. The wound was irrigated and then packed with gauze strips soaked in the tea tree mixture once daily
  • May 2008 the surgeon noted a significant decrease in the depth and size of wounds although they were still present
  • Aug 2008 the tea tree treatment was discontinued and the surgeon stated that no surgery was necessary. The wounds sites had some redness at this point
  • The wounds completely healed ( no date given)

Observations

  • Patience! The care of these wounds was over 5 months.
  • Tea tree oil is known to be antibacterial so perhaps the tea tree oil prevented infection from settling in and  allowed greater time for the wound to heal on its own. Julia Lawless in The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils lists Tea tree EO as anti-bacterial but also as a cicatrisant (helps formation of scar tissue.) and a vulnerary (prevents tissue degeneration and arrests bleeding in wounds.) In Jane Buckle's Clinical Aromatherapy there are human studies supporting tea tree oil as anti-bacterial (click page image to the left to read). She also lists them for elderly wound care (click page images to the right to read)
  •  Tea tree oil- Buckle Slow healing wounds 1- buckle Sow healing wounds 2 Slow healing wounds 3
  • Pumpkin seed oil's main nutrients are: essential fatty acid - Omega 6, Omega 9, Vitamin A & E, antioxidants, phytosterols and carotenoids. It is unknown how this would affect the wound healing but essential fatty acids and the other components can be absorbed through the skin and in this case the outer horny layer of the dermis was missing so they were probably better absorbed.
  • As this is a case of one it cannot be established that the treatment helped in the healing or if it did help was it the tea tree oil or the pumpkin seed oil or both.