The most important property of emu oil has already been mentioned. It is highly penetrating. This ability to penetrate the stratum corneum barrier of the skin, brought about by the high levels of oleic acid mentioned earlier, has in it the basis for many new uses in the future. Emu oil could be combined with various medicinals or cosmetic materials to take them beneath this barrier and could do it relatively more cheaply than the costly liposomes and iontophorisis now available. At the present time, chiropractors and massage therapists are using emu oil for this penetrating ability because it gets into the muscles and relaxes them so that the chiropractic work that has been done lasts longer. As Dr. Ron Westbrook states in "An Adjustment in Chiropractic" [Emu Today and Tomorrow, July 1995]: "When the spine is misaligned, anything that can cause those tissues to become loose or more fluid, is great help. The more fluid the muscles, the less likely they will pull back out of alignment."

It is anti-inflammatory. According to another article in Emu, Today and Tomorrow, July 1995, four Australian inventors have isolated a yellow-colored component in emu oil that appears to be at least one of the active ingredients causing the oil's anti-inflammatory activity. They have patented the substance they isolated, and this patent, or other research, could lead to new anti inflammatory medicines in the future that are without side effects, are non-irritating, which continue to work and are not thrown off or rejected by the body, and which are far less expensive than current anti-inflammatories are. There is much anecdotal material available on the anti-inflammatory abilities of emu oil. It has been shown to reduce pain, swelling and stiffness in joints, to reduce recent bruising and muscle pain, and ease sports related muscle strains as well. Studies have shown that different emu oils had different levels of anti-inflammatory ability.

Emu oil is a good emulsifier, has good "blendability." This means that it has the ability to blend oil and water together and produce a cream that does not feel oily on the skin. The problem is that most creams do not penetrate the skin barrier. As we have seen above, however, emu oil can penetrate the skin barrier and do so without leaving an oily residue behind. This bodes very well for its future use in cosmetics as well as pharmaceutical uses.

A third important property of emu oil is that it is bacteriostatic. Tests show that in its pure state, emu oil grows no bacterial organisms. Pure non-contaminated emu oil has a long shelf life for this reason and also because of its low levels of polyunsaturated fats which are the most subject to oxidation and eventual rancidity. This bacteriostatic activity will be of great help in future uses both cosmetically and pharmaceutically.

Emu oil has a low potential for irritation of the skin. It is shown to have almost no side effects, and this means that even at full strength, emu oil has irritation levels so low that they are the same as those found in putting water on the skin, i.e. practically nonexistent. This enhances its abilities in sports medicine and in massage and chiropractic as well. This characteristic is unusual and it also betters its position as an anti-inflammatory because most of the anti-inflammatory drugs are irritating and have side effects.

Emu oil is non-comedogenic, that is to say it does not clog up pores and thus does not cause pimples when used. This cannot be said for mineral oil (one of the current, popular carrier oils in cosmetics and rubbing oils) which causes outbreaks of pimples when used.

It is a good moisturizer which adds to its protective ability and promotes anti-aging of the skin. Researchers believe that its unique combination of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids may be an explanation for its ability to enhance the willingness of the upper layers of the skin to hold water. It increases the thickness of human skin 2.5 times, thus reducing its tendency to wrinkle.

There is much anecdotal material regarding its anti-aging and wound healing abilities. Stories of the oil being applied to burns and causing them to heal at a far faster rate abound. Allan Strickland, a pharmacist in Ozark, Alabama, in an interview printed in the November 1994 issue of Emu Today and Tomorrow tells of a woman undergoing radiation treatments for breast cancer which produced a sunburn-like reaction on her skin. She was receiving no relief from the cream manufactured for radiation patients. He gave her emu oil and told her to use it on half the affected area and the cream on the other half. When she came back several weeks later, she said that "her doctor couldn't understand why half of the skin was red and burned and the other half looked normal," said Strickland. Her doctor called Strickland after he was told about the oil "wanting to know what an emu was." He was told and wanted the oil for his other patients. This is only one example of the many stories about the oil's burn and wound healing abilities. A double-blind study started in May of 1996 at the Timothy J. Harner Burn Center affiliated with the University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, and sponsored by the American Emu Association is being carried out currently to authenticate this anecdotal material.

The anti-aging factor in emu oil was proven in a study at the Boston University School of Medicine in which a processed emu oil known as Kalaya, manufactured by New World Technology, was topically applied to depilitated mice in a for a two-week-long period in a double-blind study using corn oil as the control substance. The processed emu oil produced a 20% increase in DNA synthesis which meant that the growth activity of the skin of these animals had a 20% increase. Also the hair follicles were much more robust and the skin thickness had increased as well. Dr. Michael Holick, MD, Ph.D. who conducted these tests said they also discovered that "over 80% of hair follicles that had been asleep were woken up and began growing hair." He explained that hair follicles go through stages from resting to growth and back to sleep again, and that they awoke these hair follicles by stimulating them which indicates that it stimulates skin growth as well.

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