Uses for emu oil
I use emu oil for burns, bug bites, and chapped lips. How do I know it works, as opposed to just being oil? I use a wood burning stove to heat the house and being a klutz, I burn myself a few times a year. A nice 2 to 3 inch line across the forearm. They usually scab and peel and hurt. I ran a test last winter on one of my usual burns. I dabbed emu oil on the left half of the burn, Wesson corn oil on the other half, and repeated twice a day for about a week. Being a klutz, about the time it healed I burned the same arm about a quarter inch away. So I did the emu and Wesson oil experiment again but with Wesson on the left. Results? Compared to emu oil, the Wesson end took a few extra days to heal (still quicker than using nothing), even better, the end with emu oil didn't hurt as much or scar.
Emu oil is good for sunburn. Just a little bit in one palm, rub your hands together and then rub where you can reach on your shoulders and back. The "burn" stops and I don't peel as much. Your results may vary, I tan easily.
I make emu oil and I use it. It's good stuff. My shop is here. The rest of this page is testimonials from other folks.
Marty sent a note the other day...
Was thinking of you in the kindest terms the other night when I almost fried my thumb and forefinger on a set of metal cooking tongs carelessly laid against a stove burner I didn't realize was still going.
After extracting my hand from the freezer I immediately headed for the Emu juice you'd sent (I always keep one bottle in the fridge, and the other next to the stove). We're talking REAL PAIN here! I slathered the stuff on and rubbed it in the best I could, and WITHIN FOUR AND A HALF MINUTES by my stop-watch those horrendous sensations just disappeared! COMPLETELY! The fingers had blisters and a couple of char-marks, but the pain just faded away!
Tell the Emus I love them!
Marty
The following is a compilation of testimonials posted to the ratite e-mail list in 1996. Addresses and most names have been removed.
- I burned my hands badly by grabbing a pan that had been in a 500 degree oven. The finger tips were seared white. I immediately applied pure emu oil, and added more oil for the first hour or so. Within 30 minutes the pain ceased. The next day, continuing to use the oil, there was just slight redness, no blisters or scars, and still no pain.
- Our physician's fair, red headed daughter suffered a bad sunburn on a small exposed area that did not receive sun-block. Within minutes of applying emu oil, her pain was relieved, and there was no blistering or peeling.
- Our grandson had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic, which created a diaper rash with a fiery red area like a burn. He was very fussy, and in a lot of pain. We put emu oil on it and within a minute the pain had eased, he quit fussing and was happy again.
- Our acupuncture therapist is using emu oil as a carrier for many of her special Chinese herb formulas. She is very pleased with the results from these blends.
- Our golden retriever had a bad "hot spot" rash on her neck this spring -- the flesh was red and oozing, the fur was gone, and she acted sick. After a few applications of emu oil, she was visibly more comfortable and the rash healed right away.
- I made an emu oil, beeswax lip balm last winter that worked better than any lip protection I've ever used.
- Back in 1992, my husband and I decided to start raising ratites, and we currently own and operate a ranch that supports Emus, Rheas, and Ostrich..... Over the last three years, here are some of the many uses we have found for emu oil.
We use it as moisturizer in the bath, on the body and face, and Glenn uses it as an aftershave to heal up razor nicks and soften his skin. We no longer have to deal with callused or aching hands (the oil does alleviate pain), and after adding it to our shampoos and conditioners, our hair is shiny and healthy-looking! Several pre-cancerous bumps I had on my face and hands have disappeared.
I burned my hands badly with hot butter and immediately applied Emu oil and wrapped up the hands in a towel for about ten minutes. When I removed the towel, there was no trace on my hands of what should have been a good second-degree burn. No pain, the redness and swelling were gone!
We get insect bites frequently, and applying a dab of the oil to the itch makes it disappear within a few seconds, and it works great on mosquito bites! Glenn was outside in summer shorts a few days ago and disturbed a huge hornets nest. He was stung at least seven times on the legs and a couple of places on the face and hands. He came rushing in the house and coated all the bites heavily with Emu oil. None of the bites ever swelled up, and he was able to proceed as if nothing happened!
On a trip to Phoenix we took along a large bottle of Emu oil. The temperatures were well over 102 degrees in late May, and we while we both got great suntans, we never had to worry about sunburns. The oil appears to totally protect the skin from burning!
On the above-mentioned trip, Glenn had all of his upper teeth extracted by a Mexican oral surgeon, and immediate dentures put in. The pain (despite medications given him by the surgeon) got to be too much to bear, so we stopped and removed the dental plates put in less than an hour before. Glenn's upper gums were heavily stitched in several places and totally swollen, so I recommended he keep them out as the bleeding had abated, and Glenn used Q-tips to coat his gums for the next three days. The pain was gone by day two, and on day four he returned to the oral surgeon for a checkup by the surgeon, who told him he had never seen stitches heal so fast, and the surgeon proceeded to remove all the stitches (usually one has to wait at least two weeks!). I found that when my dentures irritate my gums, putting Emu oil on the irritated spot stops all pain.
We have found that Emu oil will cut the pain and itching of bites, stings, and even poison ivy and oak. We have a friend who uses Menthol-based products on his shoulders at night, so I asked him to put the menthol on both shoulders, and then apply the Emu oil to one shoulder and report the results back to me. He dropped by the next day to say that the Emu oil drove the menthol deep into the tissues and he could feel the difference between the two applications.
Glenn's brother, Ernie, had a triple by-pass heart operation a couple of years ago, and as he is an Emu breeder, and knew we used it, he started applying it because the metal plates put in his chest to hold the stitches ached when the cold air hit. On a routine visit to his surgeon he was asked why his scars were disappearing 50% faster than the rest of him patients.!
Several weeks ago, Glenn was aiming at a predator and the recoil of the rifle bashed the scope into his face, right between the eyes. He was a bloody mess, but he wiped off the blood, washed his face, and coated the gash in Emu oil. The bleeding immediately stopped, and the wound NEVER developed any "crust" to it.
Glenn's brother, Ernie, has two teenagers who had acne until he made them start using Emu oil on their faces.
A neighbor who works at a restaurant and has bleached, callused, irritated hands, called to say that another neighbor that we had given some Emu oil to had given her some, and she decided to try it on her hands, and that within one week her hands were soft, painless, and getting better every day!
A visitor to our ranch showed us his psoriasis spots. We applied Emu oil to most of them and watched them turn from gray crusts to smooth pink flat spots right before our eyes! He left with a large amount of our oil, and his psoriasis is getting better ever day!
A lady called who had somehow gotten hold of our oil and decided to treat her shingles with it, as her dermatologist had given her no relief. Her shingles were gone! She called her mother in California, who also has shingles, and her shingles are gone!
I am using the oil on stretch marks on my abdomen from pregnancy, and am seeing a gradual reduction in the scars (have been using one month to date).
Both Glenn and I, and quite a few people who know us and use Emu oil have found tremendous relief for tendonitis, carpal-tunnel disease (I have it) and arthritis. Some of us use Emu oil as the only treatment, and some of us use the Emu oil as a safe "driver" (unlike DMSO) to drive cortisone, aspirin creme lotions, menthol compounds deep into the skin tissues.
Emu oil is a fantastic sexual lubricant, and will relieve males of summer heat "jock itch" and rash. Now everyone will scream, "NO, NO, SHE DIDN'T SAY THAT," and then they will secretly go try it out for themselves.
- My husband has always had a lot of cold sores in the winter time. They are on his nose, his mouth and large ugly ones. He started using emu oil on them as soon as they started to develop and they do not amount to anything. He swears by it.
- Eleven years ago I had 2 disks removed from my lower back. I was only 35 years old with a two year old child! For the first four years I could do very little stand, sit, dishes, etc. just normal routine stuff much less play with my son. I am always plagued with pain. I hate taking pills for chronic pain due to their side effects. We became emu ranchers in 1993 and one of our friends suggested I rub some emu oil on my back. Finally, one day about 2 years ago I was waxing my hard wood floors and way over did it. I was in such pain I couldn't even stand up straight! I couldn't even sit-stand -or lay down, I was having such bad spasm. My husband said it was time to try emu oil. "What do you have to lose?" He massaged it on for about two minutes and I couldn't believe it! I straightened up, the spasms were gone, the pain was gone and I finished my floors! Of course the emu oil can't repair my back as it is now degenerating but at least I can do more things, be more active knowing when my back hurts more than I can tolerate, I have a release from pain. My husband was happy too, he didn't have to finish the floors!
- My husband, J.V. had three cuts on his arm from moving birds. He put emu oil on two cuts. He now only has one scar! There's no doubt in my mind the worth of this bird and the oil it produces. It has given me back a quality of life I thought I'd never regain.
- Does anyone out there suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? I do. And I have found that rubbing emu oil into both wrist, works MUCH, MUCH better to relieve the aching (so that I can sleep at night) than wearing splints and/or taking Relafan constantly. In fact; with all the keyboard "users" in this country, and all the workmen's comp claims being filed because of this growing problem for employers, (Carpal Tunnel) we need to provide information on the benefits of emu oil, to all the major businesses in America and their insurance companies - who are paying the medical bills for the employees who develop this ailment.
Many times, treatment includes surgery. And sometimes the surgery helps, and sometimes it doesn't. And the patients can be left disabled to some degree, even after the surgery. Personally, I have not had the surgery, and I can't imagine now ever needing the surgery. Anyway, according to Nurse Shirley at Bank IV in Wichita, Kansas; Carpal Tunnel is the BIGGEST EVER-GROWING "ON-THE-JOB HAZARD" for most employers. This might be just the "niche" we need to get our pain relieving oil into production in a big way. When I called Nurse Shirley to tell her how much relief I was getting from using emu oil, she was very excited and wanted to know where her other patients could get some of this oil. She also said that she'd not heard of it (emu oil) before I called her. That's sad, isn't it?
- I have suffered for years with muscle spasms in the back, usually one of these bouts last 5 or 6 days, the only relief was from a prescription muscle relaxer, I don't know if they actually helped or just made me sleep through the misery. About three months ago while building fence, I pulled a muscle in my back, this is generally the beginning of several days of suffering. I had my back rubbed with Woodhavens Sports Rub followed in an hour or so with pure Emu Oil, that night I went through the same routine. The next morning my back was stiff but after a couple of hours I was able to get back to fence building, maybe at a little slower pace for the day, but by the next day was at full capacity.
- Veterinarian Testimonial:
I started applying the benefits of emu oil to veterinary medicine approximately one year ago. An emu breeder informed me of the human application, i.e., moisturizer, anti-inflammatory and transport carrier for medicine. Considering these human applications it seemed reasonable to apply those benefits to the animal population.
Originally I considered the human application for anti-inflammatory properties and transport media and felt there would be applications to management of horse wounds, especially lower leg wounds. Although anecdotal, when used in combination with other drugs. I found accelerated wound healing and decreased tendency toward production of proud flesh. Depending on the type of wound, I often combined emu oil with DMSO or dexamethasone, or gentamicin for use in the management of wounds.
On distal leg wounds where there is decreased muscle, therefore decreased circulation and increased tendency for production of proud flesh, I found that when emu oil was combined with dexamethasone and an antibiotic, usually gentocin, the animal was much less likely to develop proud flesh. Management of non-suturable wounds with twice daily application of emu oil and bandage changes markedly reduced this same phenomenon. Epithiliazation of these wounds treated with emu oil preparation was faster and less scarring was noted. Likewise dehiscence of sutured wounds was less in emu oil treated equine patients.
Although I have not yet used emu oil in lame or arthritic horses, I am interested in combining the oil with NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) to control stiffness and pain in those affected joints. Based on claims of anti-inflammatory actions and transport carrier claims it seems logical to apply these uses to this area of equine medicine.
I have combined preparations using emu oil in bovine medicine also. A frequent winter lesion seen in dairy cattle is frosted teat ends. The teat end freezes and skin around the teat sloughs. The emu oil has accelerated healing in these lesions and made it possible to continue milking in cow through the healing process. In this type of lesion emu oil is used alone for reasons of milk residues. This is an area where even bacteriostatic claims apply as well as those previously mentioned. Similarly, in bovine practice ringworm lesions in calves is seen commonly. When the oil was combined with fulvacin, an anti-fungal medication, these lesions resolved and at a faster rate than when using other conventional techniques., i.e. bleach, iodine preparations, etc.
Even in small animal practice I have found application for emu oil in wound management. One important area in which I have found application is cast sore lesions. When the cast area is worn by a small animal the cast often gets wet or causes pressure on bony prominent areas. Dermatitis or cast sores develop. When the cast is removed there are wounds which have to be managed. Emu oil combinations have accelerated the healing process markedly. These oil applications used in my mixed animal veterinary practice are anecdotal. However, I frequently photograph lesions to determine the progress of healing, especially in wounds which will require long term care. I have slides (photos) for many emu oil treated patients. I have been satisfied with the effects the oil provides and I will continue to use its preparations in my practice as well as to look for new applications of emu oil benefits.
Matthew S. Zimmer, DVM
