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Looking for ingredients to add to tea tree oil to heal damaged skin from repeated jock itch?
Guy here. Last year for atleast 6 to 8 months I was dealing with persistent jock itch in my crotch area. I was prescribed both oral antifungal and topical antifungal creams.
But because I live in a humid region, the topical antifungals just made the jock itch worse. This was realized by me much later though and until me and my dermatologist agreed upon this, she kept changing my topical antifungal cream.
I went through 8-9 different creams of which some were even steroidal and three different dermatologists.
Even when the itching stopped and the jock itch finally ended, the skin looked both damaged and sensitive from the excessive itching, the creams and from remnants of the jock itch. The dermatologist told me that its just damaged skin and thats how its going to be for me and to apply some new cream again. But I had lost my faith in my dermatologists by then.
This year in the summer again the moment I felt I got a bit itching, I jumped on the internet instead because I wanted to avoid a dermatologist at all cost. Through internet I came across two solutions. One is using apple cider vinegar and second is using tea tree oil.
Fearing apple cider vinegar might be too harsh, I went ahead with using coconut oil + tea tree oil in a 2:1 ratio and voila! It worked. No itching. And what seemed like is going to be the start of another bout of jock itch actually subsided.
But having said that, the skin down there on my inner thighs especially, still looks pretty damaged and discoloured. It doesn’t look discolored to the point of causing any issues in my sex life. My partners cant even tell if anything is wrong with my skin but because I knew how it looked back when the skin was 100% healthy, I know its not that way now. More importantly, it looks sensitive as if its on the verge of contacting jock itch again if I go through heavy duty sweating and friction even for a few days. I am currently having to cut back on my running and other physical activities out of fear of contracting jock itch again and I dont want it to be that way because I absolutely used to love running and sports.
What are some individual ingredients I can add to and apply along with tea tree oil that will help my skin recover?
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6 Replies
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if you are looking for other essential oils to complement tea tree oil, blend of helichrysum italicum and German chamomile (matricaria recutita) is excellent for healing skin and both are anti-inflammatory
2:1 dilution is too high though, esp if it is to treat a chronic issue in a umm sensitive area. the max dermal limit for tea tree is 15% and this is not for long term usage, i.e, you can use this dilution for a week to calm the inflammation, then reduce dilution to 1-2% for continuous use. Best to blend it with skin healing oils like helichrysum, chamomile, lavender. Add some antioxidant too to prevent tea tree from oxidising.
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@RobThrowaway I don’t believe it is responsible for anyone here to give medical advice. Most people are not licensed physicians, and there is some liability. Also, this is a cosmetic-oriented forum, what you need is something therapeutic and would be classified as a drug.
That being said, if you are seeing issues due to chaffing/friction, try different underwear. Maybe boxer briefs that will remain in place on your skin and not rub against it. Probably cotton would be best to prevent moisture build up, fungi thrive in warm moist environments.
Petrolatum (vaseline) is something people would also use to protect skin. But I’m not sure if this would be counterproductive with fungal growth being present! So, consult with a physician or try at your own risk.
Essential oils are irritating, so you need to find the concentration that is effective for the claimed purpose that also doesn’t cause damage on your skin. Since these are not FDA approved, you will find different sources recommending different concentrations. EO are use-at-your-own-risk.
Also, there is some concern that Tea Trea is a source of phytoestrogens, which can cause issues if used long term in males. But it does show good antifungal properties.
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Hi there, I am from the land of Tea Tree Oil (down under). I would not start with Tea Tree oil or any essential oil at all, especially volatiles like Tea Tree oil.You really need calming, soothing ingredients to first of all take the inflamed areas down. Also can you stop running for a week? until the inflamed area is better. Then I would try some of the ingredients to address the microbes.If you would like some more information please email me and I can give you some help. I am in the formulators list. Good luck.
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Aloe Vera + Calendula extracts.
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africanbug said:if you are looking for other essential oils to complement tea tree oil, blend of helichrysum italicum and German chamomile (matricaria recutita) is excellent for healing skin and both are anti-inflammatory
2:1 dilution is too high though, esp if it is to treat a chronic issue in a umm sensitive area. the max dermal limit for tea tree is 15% and this is not for long term usage, i.e, you can use this dilution for a week to calm the inflammation, then reduce dilution to 1-2% for continuous use. Best to blend it with skin healing oils like helichrysum, chamomile, lavender. Add some antioxidant too to prevent tea tree from oxidising.
Thank you @africanbug. This is quite helpful. I’ll make sure to dilute it a lot more. I will also add either chamomile or lavender to the mix too.
letsalcido said:@RobThrowaway I don’t believe it is responsible for anyone here to give medical advice. Most people are not licensed physicians, and there is some liability. Also, this is a cosmetic-oriented forum, what you need is something therapeutic and would be classified as a drug.That being said, if you are seeing issues due to chaffing/friction, try different underwear. Maybe boxer briefs that will remain in place on your skin and not rub against it. Probably cotton would be best to prevent moisture build up, fungi thrive in warm moist environments.
Petrolatum (vaseline) is something people would also use to protect skin. But I’m not sure if this would be counterproductive with fungal growth being present! So, consult with a physician or try at your own risk.
Essential oils are irritating, so you need to find the concentration that is effective for the claimed purpose that also doesn’t cause damage on your skin. Since these are not FDA approved, you will find different sources recommending different concentrations. EO are use-at-your-own-risk.
Also, there is some concern that Tea Trea is a source of phytoestrogens, which can cause issues if used long term in males. But it does show good antifungal properties.
Thank you @letsalcido. I can’t tell if the chaffing/friction is causing the jock itch but it sure does aggravate it. As for the underwear, I was going to try the exact opposite, which is tight fitting synthetic boxer briefs hoping the smooth synthetic texture would prevent any chaffing. I read that although cotton absorbs sweat easily, it also causes a lot of chaffing. But I understand that synthetic material won’t absorb sweat, which might make the fungal infection worse.
I’ll skip vaseline because it might end up being counterproductive. Might make the fungal infection worse and also will be a pain to wash off which may further aggravate the skin
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Dr Catherine Pratt said:Hi there, I am from the land of Tea Tree Oil (down under). I would not start with Tea Tree oil or any essential oil at all, especially volatiles like Tea Tree oil.You really need calming, soothing ingredients to first of all take the inflamed areas down. Also can you stop running for a week? until the inflamed area is better. Then I would try some of the ingredients to address the microbes.If you would like some more information please email me and I can give you some help. I am in the formulators list. Good luck.
Hello Dr. Catherine. Thank you for stopping by. I would sure love some more information on this via email. Do I contact on catherine@drprattscosmeticformulating.com (the website drprattscosmeticformulating.com seems to be down and won’t load for me) or should I send a private message here itself?
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