Tea tree oil is reported to be an effective antifungal and antibiotic (and
they say the shampoo keeps lice away), but is worth remembering that it is a
potent allergenic. It is not uncommon for people to become allergic to it.
If used on the nipple, it should be well diluted (say a few drops in half a
cup of water).
Thanks for the suggestions people sent me about how to assess mastitis. I
was trying to put a research proposal together in a hurry - but there were
too many unknowns and not enough time, so I've left it for the moment.
Someone needs to do a prospective study of women with mastitits - taking
measurements of redness, hardness, pain, fever, degree of unwellness(??),
medication taken, length of illness, rate of abscess formation, etc. If we
don't know these things, we are only guessing when we try to plan a study
and need to calculate sample size (I got as far as working out I would need
somewhere between 30 women and 2000 women to find a difference between two
arms of the trial!!!!!).
Lisa Amir
GP / IBCLC in Melbourne, Australia