TEA TREE OIL ON PIERCINGS? 4 Reasons Not to Use Tea Tree Oil On Piercings Bumps
Tree Tree Oil an essential oil known for it’s anti-fungal anti-microbial, and anti-bacterial properties but is it good for piercings?
You will see several sites, pins on Pinterest, and even Amazon sellers that recommend putting Tea Tree oil on piercings but what’s the truth? Today we will be talking about how this internet myth came all about, why Tea Tree oil isn’t good for piercings, and what you should be using on your piercings.
For those who are new, Hello! My name is Christina and I used to pierce ears for 5 years before turning to the internet to share my knowledge about piercings here on my blog and on YouTube!
Now back to this whole Tea Tree thing..
WHY DO PEOPLE SAY TEA TREE OIL IS GOOD FOR PIERCINGS?
Like I mentioned before, Tea Tree Oil is known for it’s anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-microbial properties. It pulls moisture out of the cells and because of this people like to apply it to what is called Keloids. The problem here is that with piercings, bumps are common, but that does not mean every bump equals a keloid. So people are putting Tea Tree Oil on these “bumps” could be making your piercing worse..
What are Keloids?
Keloids are scar tissue. It’s a way of some peoples bodies healing after a cut, piercing, etc. They are raised above the skin and can last for several years. For example, my boyfriend got the chicken pox really bad as a kid.. so bad that he was left with keloids. He still has them 20+ years later and Keloids are a very common thing in his family. Keloids are genetic. If you’re gonna get them.. you’re gonna get them.
Piercing “Bumps”
Now “piercing bumps” or “irritation bumps” are a different. These piercing bumps are very common with piercings and are often caused by some type of irritation such as:
Poor Aftercare
Unsafe/Poor Quality Jewelry
Poor Angle of Piercing
Trauma - like hitting it while your sleeping
Once the irritation cause is found and addressed, the piercing bump will go away… unlike a Keloid. Putting Tea Tree Oil on these piercing bumps will only make your piercing worse..
4 Reasons NOT to Use Tea Tree Oil on Piercings:
Essential Oils are TOO harsh for piercings. They are VERY concentrated and cause things such as blisters, redness, burning, and irritation. This is for all essential oils.. not just Tea Tree Oil.
TOXIC -Something to remember is that piercings are open wounds. They are not meant to be ingested in any form. Putting Tea Tree oil on a cut/would/piercing can be toxic if it were to get into your body and into your blood stream. Don’t believe me.. check out the poison controls website.
Usually when people add essentials oils to the skin 1. They use it topically like for acne 2. They use a barrier oils such as coconut oil but oil is also not good for piercings so there’s no getting around this..
Oils are NOT regulated by the FDA. Essential oils are tricky for the FDA to regulate due whether the essential oil is being sold as a cosmetic or drug. If it’s being sold as a cosmetic the FDA does NOT have to approve it. With that, it makes it very easy to sell on websites such as Amazon. There are many private sellers on Amazon who have their products manufactured in China. Do you know what they are using and are their standards the same as the US?
If an essential oil is being advertised as something good for piercings. RUN. A thing to remember is that a REPUTABLE piercing studio will never recommend using Tea Tree Oil on piercings. They are very passionate when it comes to piercings and truly want nothing but the BEST for you and your piercing.
Tea Tree Oil dries out your piercing. Tea Tree oil is an astringent and pulls moisture out of the cells. Like alcohol and peroxide, Tea Tree Oil dries out your piercings which is not an ideal situation.
With all that being said, what do you clean your piercings with?
These are meant to clean/flush out debris and allow your body to do it’s job of healing.
If you’ve been applying Tea Tree Oil to your bump, keep in mind that without knowing the true cause of your bump, it will keep returning. Figure out what’s been causing your bump and it will go away =)
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If you believe you have a true keloid, consult with a dermatologist or if you believe you are infected, consult with your physician.