MGP, All i can say is that when i applied the combo of tea tree oil and jojoba oil, i saw it disappear, so it was absorbed, after a few minutes. My nails had improved. Had i not forgotten to continue treatment, i am sure it would have healed nicely. I stopped using nail polish as most in the market now have toulene. Terpentenes are so drying, if the nails are dry all the more it would crack if you use terp. I tried coconut oil without any other oil as it is touted as antifungal and no dice. Another thing, it is easier to penetrate the skin than the nail. As i originally said jojoba is very thin, it could penetrate the nail. In my experience, if i make cream with beeswax, the wax stays visible on top of the skin while vco is absorbed by skin. Melly ======================================================================== How about tea tree?
tea tree contains several terpenoids of which terpinen-4-ol shows a favorable skin penetration. One study starts out saying this; Since its introduction, transdermal drug delivery has promised much but, in some respects has still to deliver on that initial promise, due to inherent limitations imposed by the percutaneous route. The greatest obstacle for transdermal delivery is the barrier property of the stratum corneum. Many approaches have been employed to breach the skin barrier, of which, the most widely used one is that of chemical penetration enhancers. Of the penetration enhancers, terpenes are arguably the most highly advanced and proven category and are classified as generally regarded as safe (GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration Terpenes are included in the list of Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) substances and have low irritancy potential. Their mechanism of percutaneous permeation enhancement involves increasing the solubility of drugs in skin lipids, disruption of lipid/protein organization and/or extraction of skin micro constituents that are responsible for maintenance of barrier status. Hence, they appear to offer great promise for use in transdermal formulations. This article is aimed at reviewing the mechanisms responsible for percutaneous permeation enhancement activity of terpenes, which shall foster their rational use in transdermal formulations. The thing about tea tree however is that it will likely evaporate before significant penetration occurs. Use of an occlusion method may therefor increase its therapeutic action. Perhaps jojoba or coconut would retard the evaporation and perhaps increase the penetration by other means. It is said that jojoba is more like a wax than an oil. An ointment made with bees wax might increase the occlusion and reduce evaporation rate even further. Coconut has anti fungal properties and so a combination of coconut, bees wax, oregano and tea tree might be good. Another study on transdermal drug delivery found that of lemon grass oil, eucalyptus, menthol and clove, that clove oil had the highest penetration enhancement. Since clove is also antibiotic, it could be useful. Perhaps clove, or any combination of clove, oregano, tea tree incorporated into a bees wax base with the viscosity controlled by coconut and or jojoba oil could make a useful ointment. This is what I do and it seems effective for many skin problems although I havent tried it on nail infections There are medicated nail lacquers that are said to be effective with minimal side effects. One could just go with it, or try to make their own by using tee trea, clove, oregano and some kind of lacquer. The constant exposure and diffusion of the actives is the benefit of the lacquer, so this could have some value....
