Study: Essential Oils and Coconut Oil Effective For Skin Disorders on Dogs

Does your dog suffer from itching skin? Would you like to help your pet with natural therapies?

One of the most common problems that dogs experience is pruritus or itchy skin. In a study published in April, 2014, veterinary researchers confirmed that essential oils could be successfully used to resolve one of the common causes of itchy skin in dogs.

Pruritus is the medical term used to define a dog’s sensation to itch, or the sensation that provokes its desire to scratch, rub, chew, or lick its hair and skin. Pruritus is also an indicator of inflamed skin. Intense scratching can eventually lead to partial or full hair loss.[1]

Causes of Itching and Scratching

There can be many causes for itching and scratching. These include external parasites such as “fleas, Cheyletiella, scabies, Demodex, lice or poultry mites”[2] and fungal/yeast growth on the skin. The diagnostic services of a veterinarian are helpful for determining the exact cause of the itching. Different causes will require different treatments. You can learn more about the causes of itching by using the resource links at the end of this article.

Pruritus is most commonly found in dogs, but can sometimes be present in cats. The skin in certain areas can become red, inflamed, and infected. This situation can make pet quite miserable.

Malassezia Dermatitis is One of the Common Causes of Itchy Skin

I will be discussing the exciting findings of a new research study published in France, which used a blend of essential oils to eliminate the itching that is caused by Malassezia dermatitis. Malassezia dermatitis is a reaction to a specific fungus/yeast called Malassezia, which is normally present on the skin of dogs. Under certain conditions the population of Malassezia can either become too great, which causes the itching, or the dog develops an immune system reaction, which causes the itching and scratching.

Research Using Essential Oils to Treat Malassezia Dermatitis

The results of research [5] published in April, 2014, in the Journal of Medical Mycology demonstrated the benefits of using essential oils for treating Malassezia dermatitis. The researchers treated 20 dogs with dermatitis caused by Malassezia pachydermatis. They used a blend of essential oils containing bitter orange (Citrus aurantium) 1%, lavender (Lavandula officinalis) 1%, oregano (Origanum vulgare) 0.5%, marjoram (Origanum majorana) 0.5%, peppermint (Mentha piperita) 0.5% and Helichrysum (Helichrysum italicum var. italicum) 0.5%. These essential oils were mixed into a base of sweet almond oil and coconut oil.

This mixture of oils was topically applied to twenty animals twice daily for 1 month. Another group of ten animals was treated with a conventional therapy based on ketoconazole given at a rate of 10mg/kg per day and 2% chlorhexidine given twice a week for 3 weeks. At the end of the treatment periods, researchers found that both groups of animals had significant improvements in their clinical status without adverse effects. They conducted follow-up visits 6 months later to observe whether there was a recurrence of the original disease condition, and found that both groups retained their clinical improvements.

The overall minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) when used on the fungus/yeast of the skin was 0.3%. O. vulgare showed the lowest minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC), being active at 0.8%, followed by M. piperita (1%), O. majorana (1.3%), C. aurantium (2%) and L. officinalis (4%) while H. italicum [Helichrysum] did not yield any antimycotic effect up to 10%. Active major compounds were thymol, carvacrol, p-cymene, 1,8-cineol, limonene and menthol.[6]

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