Miracle arthritis cure?

- You may have seen the full page ads in your local newspapers, but you'll be hard-pressed to find it on store shelves. Australian Dream Arthritis Cream claims to ease your pain in 15 minutes. Medical Reporter Jessa Goddard asks, does it work?

The main ingredient in Australian Dream is emu oil. Emus are birds, similar to ostriches. The company claims the oil from these birds may help reduce joint inflammation.

Arthritis affects nearly 70 million people in the United States alone.

The pain can stop you in your tracks. So when a new product claims to lessen pain in 15 minutes, it's tempting.

But local orthopedic surgeon Dr. John Reynolds cautions, as with most products, if it sounds too good to be true... it probably is.

"Based on what I know about scientific literature pertaining to these particular ingredients in this, I would be somewhat surprised if it has that dramatic of an effect,� says Dr. Reynolds.

Still the consumer testimony is compelling, saying:

"It really works. I have terrible nerve pain and it soothes it down in about five minutes."

"I put a little on my knee each day, and can do all the things I used to do. And without pain!"

Emu oil contains linolenic acid, a pain killer and oleic acid, an anti-inflammatory.

Both are used orally to treat arthritis, but topically, Doctor Reynolds says would be the equivalent of rubbing olive oil on your skin.

"And so I don't think rubbing some on one's skin would be any more harmful than rubbing olive oil on one's skin would be, but whether it would be harmful is another question,� says Dr. Reynolds.

Australian Dream's maker, Nature's Health Connection, released this statement to Volunteer TV:

"The active ingredient in Australian Dream arthritis cream is recognized by the Food and Drug Administration as being effective for the relief of arthritis pain."

The full page ad promoting free samples of the cream lists about 70 local drug stores where you can try the product.

The ones we talked to say not only are they out of free samples, they only had a few jars of the cream left on their shelves.