Tea Tree: Does it Interact with drugs?

June 11, 2004

Hey Kat,

> My mom thinks she has an infection in some psoriasis in her leg, so

> I've been trying some tea tree oil on it and it does seem to be a

> little better....but it occurred to me last night that I should find

> out if tea tree oil might cause any drug interactions. She has a lot

> of medical problems and as such takes a lot of different medicines..

> will the tea tree oil get into her bloodstream

IF there is broken skin .. yes. And if there is infection then odds are

that there is some broken skin .. or at least a weak path for the oil to

absorb. If not broken, some of the chemicals in the Tea Tree will get

in .. others won't .. depends on molecular size .. those that do get in

are normally those that are most likely to cause sensitization.

> and possibly interact with something, or should she be okay with it?

Only a Pharmacist could tell you this for sure. Then the pharmacist

would have to have a Gas Chromatography analysis of the Tea Tree or a

reliable profile in order to research each chemical component.

My unqualified but not totally ignorant opinion is that if Tea Tree or

any other commonly used EO had a history or causing problems or even

minor contraindications with drugs .. it would be publicized .. and if

it is publicized its certainly not well publicized.

The Tea Tree expert is Dennis Archer .. the Pharmacist (among other

qualifications) is Dr. Chuck Woodfield .. both are on the list .. so

maybe they will comment if they got their ears on and they know.

> Anyone know a good place to find info on what tea tree might react with?

Sorry .. this industry is a few light years away from that. But if it

were my personal problem it would not be drug interaction I would be

concerned with .. it would be sensitization.

Good luck .. and y'all keep smiling. :-)

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