I've been diagnosed with fungus and I'm just about ready to pull my hair out.My scalp is dry with sores and I have tried everything except teatree oil shampoo. What do I do next? I don't have a lot of money to spend on all these products. I have mixed and also tried straight teatree oil.Can you help?
The Tea Tree Guy says...
Carole, thanks for your note and question.
As you might have figured out already, nobody on the internet, myself included can prescribe, treat, diagnose, or cure anything, unless they are medical professionals. I am not a medical professional, just a guy that loves talking about nutritional supplements, essential oils, and natural health products.
If you haven't yet, I'd recommend getting over to see a doctor. If you have already seen a doc, and now you want to try a home remedy or some natural topical solutions, then tea tree oil may be able to help soothe your situation.
The least costly way to use tea tree oil in shampoo is to add 15 drops of tea tree oil for every ounce of your favorite shampoo, then shake or mix it in well. This should yield close to a five percent solution.
If you can, try to use a shampoo without sodium laureth sulfate, or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). Both are strong de-greasing agents, and may contribute to a dry itchy and sore scalp if you are sensitive to SLS, or as in your case, already suffering from a dry scalp.
Secondly, applying tea tree oil straight to a dry scalp with sores may cause it to flake, peel, get more irritated and even more sore than before. Straight tea tree oil tends to be very drying.
Try the above recipe and see if it is less irritating, and perhaps even soothing to your scalp. Most tea tree oil shampoo available in the store is only about a one or two percent solution, so you don't need to use tea tree oil straight to benefit from its properties.
You may want to see if your library carries a book titled "The Yeast Connection: A Medical Breakthrough By William G. Crook" for suggestions on how changing your diet can help control fungus infections.
Some herbal teas, and certain foods are known to help your body combat fungus infections, among them are foods like garlic, and pro biotic foods like yogurt, kefir, bulgarian style buttermilk, and creme fraiche. Many yeasts thrive on sugar,so you may want to cut way back on sugar and refined carbohydrates like white flour.
The best information I've seen recently on sugar can be found on YouTube. You can view the videos here.
