Eczema in babies and young children is very common. It is a recurring skin rash characterized by redness, itching and dryness. Flaking can also occur and when scratched can lead to cracking, blistering and bleeding.

Wendy Turner is typical of many mothers who were desperate because of the state of her son's eczema. He was covered from head to foot and had open wounds where he had scratched himself. He had already been treated for a secondary infection due to his eczema condition. Like many mothers, she could never get a full nights sleep, as her son would wake up five or six times crying and scratching himself. Her husband had to move to another bedroom so at least he could get enough rest to be able to go to work.

Wendy had tried everything and had taken her son to doctors and skin specialists, but the medication they supplied only resulted in temporary relief, then they would be back to square one again and his eczema would reoccur. She says that it cost her fortune until she found this unusual natural cure.

She had seen a program on the Animal Planet which said that scientists had discovered that crocodiles had the strongest natural immune system in the world. It went on to say that they rarely had diseases even though they had open wounds in mosquito infested swamps. She had also heard on her local radio station that the presenter had tried some crocodile oil on her ears. It had healed them so well that she was now able to wear ear rings for the first time in years.

Wendy lives in South Africa were there are many crocodile farms and in a visit to her local pharmacy she discovered that crocodile oil was easily available. We take up her story about her two year old son: "On the first day I used it, his skin was very severe, he actually had open wounds on his hands and his feet were totally scratched open. He was itching at the time but when I first applied it and he stopped immediately. I bandaged his hands because they were so bad but the next morning when he woke up his wounds were completely healed. After three weeks his eczema has improved dramatically"

The healing properties of crocodile oil have been known for centuries. However it is only recently that it has become available to the public. This is due to the success of crocodile farming around the world.

At last crocodiles have a real use apart from being made into shoes and handbags, their oil could help babies dry up their tears.

Crocodile oil, also known as Dr Croc, is available in most pharmacies in South Africa as awell as on the Internet. It is manufactured by Repcillin, which is a play on the words REPtile and peniCILLIN.