Aromatherapy / Tea tree oil

I found the abstract, listed below. It turns out that the active ingredients
in many of these essential oils are related to the oils in tea tree oil, or,
for that matter, in Listerine and Vicks' and other "medicinal-smelling"
preparations. They all have antibiotic and antifungal properties (which is
why the plants make them). There has been some speculation that alopecia is
made worse, if not causes, by some micro-organism, and the yeast that I
suspect is involved in TTM was originally discovered in the skin of people
with AA.

The only problem with this is that people using tea tree oil report that after
a while it seems to make pulling worse. Maybe these other oils are somewhat
different, or the carrier may make a difference, or etc.

John Kender
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Authors
Hay IC. Jamieson M. Ormerod AD.
Title
Randomized trial of aromatherapy. Successful treatment for alopecia
areata.
Source
Archives of Dermatology. 134(11):1349-52, 1998 Nov.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of aromatherapy in the treatment of
patients with alopecia areata. DESIGN: A randomized, double-blind,
controlled trial of 7 months' duration, with follow-up at 3 and 7 months.
SETTING: Dermatology outpatient department. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-six
patients diagnosed as having alopecia areata. INTERVENTION: Eighty-six
patients were randomized into 2 groups. The active group massaged
essential oils (thyme, rosemary, lavender, and cedarwood) in a mixture of
carrier oils (jojoba and grapeseed) into their scalp daily. The control
group used only carrier oils for their massage, also daily. MAIN OUTCOME
MEASURES: Treatment success was evaluated on sequential photographs by 2
dermatologists (I.C.H. and A.D.O.) independently. Similarly, the degree of
improvement was measured by 2 methods: a 6-point scale and computerized
analysis of traced areas of alopecia. RESULTS: Nineteen (44%) of 43
patients in the active group showed improvement compared with 6 (15%) of
41 patients in the control group (P = .008). An alopecia scale was applied
by blinded observers on sequential photographs and was shown to be
reproducible with good interobserver agreement (kappa = 0.84). The degree
of improvement on photographic assessment was significant (P = .05).
Demographic analysis showed that the 2 groups were well matched for
prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: The results show aromatherapy to be a
safe and effective treatment for alopecia areata. Treatment with these
essential oils was significantly more effective than treatment with the
carrier oil alone (P = .008 for the primary outcome measure). We also
successfully applied an evidence-based method to an alternative therapy.