Are Dog & Emu Oils Really Remedies For Osteoarthritis?

Under one of our Facebook posts, some of you guys had a lot to say about arthritis pain. I have to be honest here, it opened up my eyes. You see, after all the research done about what arthritis is precisely and what kind of clinical trials are going on, and what possible cures are being researched, after all the patient’s stories full of hope and coping hacks, I still can’t possibly imagine the pain of living with arthritis. None of us at FindMeCure can.

All we can do is keep on researching and writing, and doing our jobs, hoping that one day, one of those clinical trials will come up with the ultimate painkiller or – dare we say it – a cure. Meanwhile, you keep on fighting, putting one foot in front of the other, as painful as it is and let me tell you something – you are not alone. We may not know your pain, but we care.

Your comments under that Facebook post were not all negative. Some of you had some tips to share with the others, who seemed to have given up hope for a pain-free living. One of those tips was using dog oil to reduce the pain. It was the first time we had heard of dog oil, so naturally, we took interest in it and here’s what we found:

Dog oil is used for massage both on people and animals and it’s a “blend of vegetable and mineral oils”^[1]. One site is clear that it’s not a licensed medicine. According to myth, it was used for massaging racing dogs and it was not tested on animals because… well, because it has been in use for quite some time. Doesn’t sound very scientific but for some reason, a lot of you said it worked so we had to keep on digging.

Nothing substantial came up about dog oil but there were some other unconventional remedies making the claim to have a beneficial effect on arthritis. Emu oil is said to relieve inflammation for both OA and RA if there is still some remaining cartilage in the joint, as it works on the soft tissues. It’s also supposed to work faster on joints closest to the skin.

The information, however, is contradictory. One the one hand, there is the claim that emu oil is a fraud, and on the other hand there was a human study on the potential benefits of emu oil, which found that “emu oil is an attractive pharmacologic agent to further explore for its therapeutic activity to treat various ailments”^[2] but the review says nothing about emu oil’s effect on arthritis.

Keep in mind that even if emu oil has its benefits, commercial products going by the name of it are not standardized and it’s not worth the health hazard at this point. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration some of these products may even contain unapproved drugs^[3].

Hate to be a buzzkill, but same goes for dog oil. What does “a blend of vegetable and mineral oil” even mean?

If you have been following the blog closely, you know that we are all for a complex holistic approach to health – solely relying on drugs and neglecting the effects of your lifestyle, mental and emotional condition, and other aspects of your life, in general, is not the optimal approach. But these “all-natural” alternatives to conventional medicine require both research and standardization so that you know exactly what you put into your body and exactly what you can expect – both the positive and the negative effects a medicine might have.

Bottom line is – approach with caution. Natural medicine can be a good thing (some of the meds we take today are derived from plants) but be sure to talk to your doctor first and don’t turn yourself into a guinea pig for alternative solutions. If nothing on the market works, there are ongoing clinical trials, which provide a controlled environment and supervision, so there’s one alternative option right there.

^[1] http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/masons-dog-oil-60081139

^[2] http://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007(14)00195-6/fulltext

^[3] https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/EmergencyPreparedness/BioterrorismandDrugPreparedness/ucm137284.htm

On the article worked: Nelly Katsarova