Nothing that freezes or heats the top layer of skin was ever going to last past the first hour. Here is why the whole drawer full of them kept failing.
Often the greatest change happens when someone becomes overly frustrated with the way things are, which pushes them to create something better.
Ralph Linford was 80 years old when he reached that point. He was an Australian engineer from a small country town called Elmore, and his rheumatoid arthritis had gotten bad enough that he could no longer lift his mug of beer. For an Australian man, that is a serious problem.
Ralph did not want a pharmaceutical-only path, so he went looking for another one. That search took him deep into the Australian outback, where he met an Aboriginal healer named Bardo.
Bardo introduced him to Blue Mallee eucalyptus, a rare strain with blue-tinted leaves that grows wild only in the outback. Aboriginal Australians had used it for generations for joint, muscle and nerve discomfort. It carries the highest cineole content of any eucalypt on the planet. That was the first piece.
It took years to find the other three, and longer still to get them to bind into a single oil. He did not sell it at first. He used it on his own hands and handed bottles to friends and family.
That is when something unexpected happened. His friends were not using it on their hands. One was rubbing it into the soles of his feet at two in the morning. One on her toes, which had gone half numb and prickled all day like they had fallen asleep and never woke up. One along the back of both calves.
Different bodies, different histories, same bottle. That told Ralph something important: he had not solved a hand problem. He had solved a delivery problem.
Most people dealing with burning, tingling feet have a drawer. A tube of menthol gel, a jar of something that smells like camphor, a numbing spray, compression socks, a foot bath, capsules a neighbour swore by, and probably a second tube of the same gel in a different brand.
Some of it bought an hour. None of it made it to three in the morning. Ralph knew exactly why.
That is also why the pattern is so recognizable. Quiet enough during the day when you are busy. Loud the second the house goes still. Worse in bed, worse with the sheet on, worse in a way that has you sitting on the edge of the mattress at two in the morning with both feet on a cold floor because cold is the only thing that ever helps and it only helps while it lasts.
So why does almost nothing get down past the surface? Two reasons.
First, your skin is a barrier by design. Most topical formulas are far too heavy to move through it, so they sit on top, feel like they are working because they are cold or warm, and evaporate.
Second, the ones that seem to work are working on the surface, not below it. Menthol and camphor rubs work by counter-irritation. They heat or freeze the skin so the nerve endings right at the surface have something else to pay attention to. When it fades, nothing underneath has changed. That is the same reason the ice pack, the foot bath and the fan pointed at the end of the bed all keep disappointing. Every one of them stops the moment you stop.
And to say two things plainly. If a doctor is managing your care, keep following your doctor's advice, and keep taking what you have been prescribed. Nothing on this page is a replacement for either. This is about the hours in between, the ones where there is nothing left to do but wait it out.
Here is Mark Linford, Ralph's son and a partner in the business today, on his father's four ingredients and why each one earned its place.
“Every one of these was chosen for a job. Dad threw out far more than he kept.
Blue Mallee Eucalyptus. The rare outback strain Bardo pointed him to. It has the highest cineole content of any eucalypt on the planet, and the Aboriginal Australians relied on it for joint, muscle and nerve discomfort long before anyone put it in a bottle.
Australian Tea Tree. A hand-picked strain. Most people never think of tea tree for a foot that burns all night, and there is a good reason for that. On its own it cannot get through the skin.
Vanilla. This is the one nobody expects, and it is the one that makes the whole thing work. It is a natural vasodilator. It opens the blood vessels at the surface so the eucalyptus and the tea tree can carry down through the skin instead of stopping at it.
Spanish Olive Oil. The carrier that binds the other three together. Dad tested 32 different olive oils before he found the one that made the formula hold.
Four oils. That is the entire label. No synthetics, no preservatives, and nothing that burns or freezes your skin.”
The real discovery was not the ingredient list. It was the timing. The four oils will not combine if you mix them at once. Each has to be added at a specific point in its own plant's maturation cycle. Working that out took Ralph years.
It is also why Outback is not a one-time fix. A counter-irritant gives you its best hour in the first ten minutes and less every time after. This works the other way around. The longer you use Outback Oil, the better it works.
Carried down past the surface, not parked on top of it.
To be clear, Outback is not a "neuropathy product." It is a four-ingredient relief oil, and feet are simply where a very large number of people end up using it. Ralph built it for his hands. What his friends did with it turned out to be the bigger story.
It has sold over 2.1 million bottles worldwide, most of them in Australia, where it was sold as Elmore Oil and ended up carried in practically every pharmacy in the country. Not because of advertising, but because pharmacists kept having the same conversation with customers coming back for a second bottle. It was on the market there for more than ten years before it crossed to the United States in 2013.
And one thing worth saying plainly, because plenty of brands quietly change the formula when they cross an ocean: it is still blended in Australia. Ralph's eight-week triple maturation, timed to each plant's own cycle. The finished oil ships in tanks to the United States and is bottled here. The blend in your bottle is the blend Ralph built.
Read this part carefully, because we would rather be straight with you than impressive. The Outback Oil formula has been through two independent, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. Both of them studied osteoarthritis. Neither of them studied neuropathy. We are not going to pretend otherwise.
What they do tell you is that this is not an untested bottle of essential oils. At the Veterans Memorial Medical Centre in the Philippines, 60 patients used the formula and a matched placebo in turn over four weeks each, so every patient was their own control. On the active oil they reported a 73% reduction in nights of poor-quality sleep caused by discomfort, plus 38.9% fewer days of severe stiffness and a 33.3% drop in discomfort scores.
The second was a cross-over pilot at La Trobe University in Australia, on 11 adults, again each serving as their own control. It found statistically significant improvement from baseline in discomfort (p = 0.006) and stiffness (p = 0.019). Across all 71 patients in both trials, the formula was found safe and well tolerated, with no significant changes in liver, kidney or blood markers.
Both studies were run on the same formula sold today as Outback Original Oil, known in Australia as Elmore Oil. Both studied osteoarthritis patients, not neuropathy patients. The La Trobe authors noted that improvement was not universal. Individual results vary.
We asked Mark how Outback works without the ingredients almost every other topical on the shelf is built around. He laughed. “Because those are the ingredients that made Dad go looking in the first place.”
Outback has a natural vanilla and eucalyptus scent that does not linger, which matters when you are putting it on right before you get into bed. The ingredients are safe, non-habit-forming and drug-free.
Pills and powders have to be digested first, which takes hours, and you get no say in where they end up. Why put an entire body through it when the trouble is below both ankles?
Outback goes exactly where you put it. Roll it over the top of the foot, across the ball, along the arch, between and around the toes, up the back of the calf if that is where it travels. Rub it in, wipe away the excess. About thirty seconds, and it will not leave you sticky or greasy on the sheets.
Most people who use it for their feet do it at night, sitting on the edge of the bed, as the last thing before the lamp goes off.
“This is the only thing that literally takes my diabetic neuropathy discomfort away.”
“This product is amazing for my neuropathy. This is my second order of 3 roll-ons following at least two or three singles. This is the only thing that literally takes my diabetic neuropathy discomfort away. I am the first to recommend it to anyone that asks what I use.”
“I have MS and this oil really helps calm the nerves in my feet especially. It also helps with it in my hands, I only use it there at night though because I don't want it in my food. I'm thinking of trying the cream as well.”
“I love this product! I have intermittent neuropathy in my legs and feet. The first time I used it the discomfort subsided. Amazing! And every time after that. I'm a fan!”
“I keep a bottle in my bedside table, and use it nightly, sometimes more than once. Poor circulation and related issues require the Outback. Couldn't do without it. It works, quickly and without fail.”
“I really enjoy the comfort Outback roll on gives my legs and feet. I put it on after a shower and it works all day.”
Individual results vary.
Outback is one of the only companies in America that does not ask you to send the product back. You have 365 days to get a full refund, and you keep the bottle. If Outback doesn't help you find relief, it is on us.
To get the word out, a limited number of first-time customers can buy a full-size Outback Oil Roll-On and get a Free Outback 7-Day Pack. Each sachet in the 7-Day Pack holds a towelette with 3mL of Outback Oil.
The 7-Day Pack is more than a free add-on. This oil rewards consistency, so the thing most likely to stop it working for you is a week away from home with the bottle on the nightstand. The sachets fit in a purse, a glove box or a suitcase. The bottle covers your nightly routine. The sachets cover everything else.
Don't worry, this is not a subscription. You will never be auto-billed. Most people do end up using it daily, because the longer you use it the better it works, and that only happens if you keep using it. Either way you are covered by the 365-day guarantee.
One last thing so the next page makes sense: you will see this called Outback Original Roll-On. Same formula, same bottle. It is named after what is in it, not after a body part, which is why the thank-you letters come from so many different conditions.
If you're ready to get through a night without sitting on the edge of the bed at two in the morning, and put both feet on the floor in the morning without bracing for it first, enter your email below to claim your offer and see how it works for yourself.
We'll confirm your Free Gift Offer and take you straight to it.
Having trouble with the form? Use the button below and the offer will still be waiting for you.
CONTINUE TO MY OFFER
© The Outback Series - All Rights Reserved - Terms Of Service - Privacy Policy
1515 Detrick Ave. DeLand, FL 32724 | 1-800-215-8739 | 9am-5pm EST, Mon - Fri
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Results not typical. Individual results may vary.
There are only a few common-sense disclaimers. We reserve the right to ask for returns on orders that contain two or more of the same item. Limit one refund per household. Please reach out to us directly to receive your Returnless Refund.