Are you looking for an effective way to treat scabies or mites? Research on tea tree oil and scabies shows it may be a safe and effective treatment. If you're seeking a non-toxic method to fight scabies, this healthy oil may be just what the doctor ordered. Here you'll learn about using tea tree oil against mites and scabies, as well as research studies.

Known as Sarcoptes scabiei (it sounds like some sort of Egyptian ruler), scabies are mite-like insects that burrow into your skin and lay eggs. Red bumps form on your skin where the scabies have burrowed in.

Female mites are 0.3 - 0.4 mm. long and one quarter millimeter wide. The males are about 1/2 smaller than the females. These little buggers hold onto your skin using a pair of suckers attached to their two front legs.

Symptoms of Scabies

Scabies can cause a lot of itching, usually at night. Some people can get scabies on their head or scalp, but the mites usually infect the areas between your fingers and your wrists.

The photos below show where the rashes usually occur. The main difference between head lice and scabies is head lice don't burrow into your skin, whereas scabies does. Scabies can come with bacterial infections, so it's important to deal with as soon as you're infected.

Life Cycle of Scabies

Scabies are easily passed from one person to another through direct contact. It can also be spread by fomites, another word for clothing, bed sheets, furniture, etc.

To stop scabies from spreading, you have to clean anything that has come in contact with the infected person. Make sure to vacuum and clean all your furniture in your home and you should wash all bed sheets, bath towels and clothing in really hot water.

I remember having a house mate that got infected with scabies. We had to throw out some of our furniture because it was infested. It was a real chore to disinfect the whole house.

Treatment of Scabies

The use of strong pesticides is the typical treatment. The problem with pesticides is it's risky to use them on young children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.

If you're looking for a safer alternative, you may like the effects of tea tree oil on these mites. Here are some interesting results from studies on tea tree oil and scabies.

Tea Tree Oil More Effective than Pesticides for Treating Scabies

Darwin, Australia - Scientists discover tea tree oil is more effective than some commonly prescribed pesticides used to treat scabies.

Researchers took scabies samples from a 20 year old woman infected with crusted scabies on her skin and exposed them to the following solutions:

• 5% Tea Tree Oil solution
• 5% Permethrin (a commonly used insecticide for scabies)
• Ivermectin (an anti-parasite drug)

They studied the scabies at regular time intervals over a 24 hour period to see what would happen to them.

At the end of the study researchers discovered:

• 5% tea tree oil was very effective at reducing the survival times of the scabies, killing them off at a faster rate.

• The primary cause was terpinen-4-ol, an active ingredient found in tea tree oil.

There are cases where scabies may develop a resistance to usual drug treatments like Ivermectin and Permethrin. Results show tea tree oil may be an effective and safe alternative treatment. There are fewer side effects associated with using tea tree oil and you also reduce your exposure to the strong pesticides that are normally used.

Two Year Study Proves Tea Tree Oil Kills Mites

Darwin, Australia - A two year study found tea tree oil to be as effective as traditional anti-mite treatments in treating scabies and mites.

Researchers compared the effects of topical, oral and herbal treatments for scabies on skin scrapings from 7 patients with crusted skin scabies.

The following anti-mite treatments were used:

• 5% permethrin (also known as Lyclear)

• 25% benzyl benzoate (Ascabiol)

• 1% lindane (Quellada)

• ivermectin (Equimec)

• 5% tea tree oil

Scientists exposed the skin scrapings and mites to the above treatments and measured how long it would take to kill them.

• Researchers discovered no mites were alive when exposed to tea tree oil.

• Tea tree oil was just as effective as Quellada, Ascabiol, and Equimec for killing off the mites.

• 5% permethrin (Lyclear) had the slowest killing time. 35% of the mites were still alive after 3 hours and 4% still alive after 18 - 22 hours exposure.

Researchers concluded tea tree oil works equally well as a number of commonly prescribed medications and pesticides to kill scabies. They also found that tea tree oil has less chance of acute side effects and drug interactions, compared to some prescription drugs.

Comments:

These studies on tea tree oil and scabies show an alternative to using strong pesticides and drugs. Based on the above research, it appears a 5% solution of tea tree oil was the most effective at killing mites. You can use a 100% pure tea tree oil solution or you can also get pre-formulated scabies kits. Also available are special soaps and detergents that may also help eliminated or reduce mites or scabies infestations.

Tea Tree Oil and Scabies Research References:

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