more on head lice

January 29, 2006

Dear Jeanine,

There are no clinical data showing that tea tree oil is effective in the

treatment of head lice. There is some anecdotal evidence as well as some

preliminary in vitro data suggesting that this may the case but there is not

enough evidence to say for sure yet - its possible that tea tree oil may be

beneficial in the treatment of lice. In Australia there are several products

containing tea tree oil formulated specifically for this application. Please

note that none has been clinically proven. I do not know if there are any

tea tree oil products formulated to eliminate head lice available in the USA

or UK.

Please note that we do not recommend the use of undiluted oil. Undiluted oil

is too strong and increases the chance of an adverse reaction. The use of

well-formulated products containing 10% or less tea tree oil is always

preferable.

I know that there has been some conjecture that tea tree oil can prevent

lice infestation (as opposed to treating an existing infestation). There is

absolutely no evidence (preliminary or otherwise) to support this and it

seems even less likely.

I hope this helps.

Yours sincerely,

Carson

Microbiology (M502)

School of Biomedical, Biomolecular & Chemical Sciences

Faculty of Life & Physical Sciences

The University of Western Australia

35 Stirling Highway

Crawley WA 6009

phone +61 8 9346 3288

fax: +61 8 9346 2912

At 09:42 PM 28/01/2006, you wrote:

Can TTO be applied to a childs head for head lice infestation? Is there

any danger to applying a lot of TTO and how long should it be left on.

Thanks,

Jeanine

I got this info and thought you'd be interested. From the Tea Tree Group.

Jeanine

Jeanine's Hummingbird Soap Works

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