A cure for all your ills?

Last month, a reader wrote to our GP columnist Dr James Le Fanu to report the "miraculous" healing properties of Vaseline.

She had repeatedly applied a coat of the bathroom cabinet staple to two troublesome scars on her leg, which quickly disappeared, and then to a mole on her face that subsequently "dropped off".

A week after her letter was published, The Daily Telegraph mail bag was bulging with letters singing the praises of petroleum jelly for the treatment of everything from nappy rash and chapped lips to psoriasis and piles. One reader says it is the best face cream she has ever used

But what is it that makes this pot of grease so great?

"Vaseline is an occlusive moisturiser, which means that it creates a barrier on the surface of the skin. This is beneficial because it helps the skin to retain moisture, which is crucial to the healing process, and also because it keeps wounds sterile by preventing harmful bacteria from getting in."