Thats a good point about the antibiotic ointments. I canvassed a few people at work, and the outcome was that the paraffin acts as a barrier so that it keeps the antibiotic on the area it's needed. So even though it's keeping the bugs inside, it's also attacking them. This is only not good if the bugs cause an infection that is too deep for the ointment to get to (in the tissue or *yipes* in the bloodstream in which case you need oral/intravenous antibiotics) The infection is what causes the owies because your body sends all the good guys (prostaglandins and what not) to fight the bad bugs and it makes the site inflamed.

I don't know about it being a good lube, but it'd sure be an expensive one!