Ready for the good news? Significant results can be obtained from treating nail infections with Australian tea tree. Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) was the subject of a recent double-blind, placebo-controlled study in which 60 nail infection patients aged 18-80 years achieved an 80% cure rate after 16 weeks. In addition, none of these patients experienced a recurrence of infection. Tea tree preparations can be found in health food stores, or a home treatment of 2 drops tea tree essential oil blended with a vegetable-based carrier oil can be applied to affected nails twice each day.
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2. Ledezma E, et. al. "Efficacy of ajoene, an organosulphur derived from garlic, in the short-term therapy of tinea pedis." Mycoses 1996 Sep-Oct;39(9-10):393-5.
3. Ledezma E, et. al. "Ajoene in the topical short-term treatment of tinea cruris and tinea corporis in humans. Randomized comparative study with terbinafine." Arzneimittelforschung 1999 Jun;49(6):544-7.
4. Syed TA, et. al. "Treatment of toenail onychomycosis with 2% butenafine and 5% Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil in cream." Tropical Medicine and International Health 1999 Apr;4(4):284-7.
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