Oregano Oil for Acne

Most people have suffered the emergence of scarring bad luck in their lives in the form of acne. From the day you start developing these eruptions on your face, shoulders, or other parts of the body, every second person you meet will shower you with a new remedy to zap acne out of your life. Not all of them work.

This essential oil happens to be one of nature's most potent germ fighting elixirs. It combats bacteria, viruses, and fungi and is 26 times more powerful an antiseptic than phenol, which is believed to be a germ combatant itself, as pointed out by W. H. Martindale back in 1910.

Basically, you develop acne when dirt, grime and oil clog your facial pores, creating an ideal environment for bacteria to thrive and give rise to painful bumps on our face or other body parts.

Now, oregano oil has been established as nature's most potent antiseptic derived from a plant through steam distillation. What makes wild oil of oregano such a competent destroyer of bacteria are two very active constituents - carvacrol and thymol.

According to P. Belaiche, French doctor and author of Traité de Phytothérapie et d'aromathérapie, the best possible variety of oregano oil for treating acne or any other ailment for that matter, is the variety whose phenol content is above 50%, out of which 40% is carvacrol, the remaining portion being thymol.

Now the carvacrol and thymol content in oregano essential oil depends on the region from where it hails. While the Spanish varieties have about 66.5% active phenols in the oil, Albanian oregano oil has a meager 22.4%.

Besides these two components, oregano oil also has α-pinene, ρ-cymene, γ-terpinene, myrcene, flavonoids and some caffeic acid derivatives and it is basically the composition degrees of all these chemicals that determine not only the benefits of oregano oil but the manner in which it can be employed in medicine. Oregano oil is a very strong painkiller as well.

Now, the next essential question is, how does one go about treating acne with oregano oil? Acne, in sooth, can be treated with this oil in the following manner.

• Drop two drops of undiluted oregano oil into a container holding about 8 oz. of water and wash your face with this solution. Do it twice a day, after you have washed your face. Do not rinse your face with water after this. Just allow the solution to dry up naturally on your skin. Results will become apparent within the first 7 days.

• If your entire face isn't afflicted, you can soak a cotton ball with the same solution and apply it topically on the lesion. Again, do not rinse afterwards.

• It is believed that consuming a concoction of a glassful of juice or milk, honey or maple syrup and 2 drops of oregano oil helps to boost digestion which often results in clear, blemish-free skin. 

But do not internally consume this oil, unless guided by a doctor, because oregano oil contains phenols, which can damage the kidneys and the liver severely, if the oil is ingested for a prolonged period. Internal consumption may have certain side effects such as vomiting, rashes and even increase the toxin levels of the body.

Even if you are encouraged to consume it, see to it that you have it only for a fortnight, take a break for 15 days after that and resume if you have to.

• Another method of using oregano oil for acne is by topically applying a single drop of oregano oil, without dilution, on the eruption itself, with the help of a Q-tip, twice a day. For this, do a patch test first on your hand or back. If your body doesn't develop allergic reactions, go ahead and use this method.

• Oregano oil capsules are also available in the market. Consult a doctor before you take those. Ideally, a dosage of 600 mg/day is fine.

Health benefits of oregano oil include treatment of other skin-related issues such as scratches, cuts, burns, insect bites or other infections.

In such cases, you can mix a drop of oregano oil in a teaspoon of coconut oil, olive oil or even butter and apply it topically. But using this mixture for acne treatment isn't a recommended option as oil clogs the skin further.

There are multiple other oregano oil health benefits and uses which render this oil an essential natural healer. It is a digestion booster, a constipation reliever, a remedial option for patients of asthma and other respiratory ailments, a soother for joint inflammation-related pains like such experienced by arthritic patients (terpinenes in the oil give it anti-inflammatory properties), and an analgesic equaling the potency of morphines, among others.

Evidently, the list of benefits is quite long and tested at that. So, use oregano oil and your acne will disappear in sometime. Of course, if you are allergic to any member of the mint family, you may not be able to use this oil.

Disclaimer: This story is for informative purposes and is not meant to substitute the advice of a health care provider.