Nasty dirty elbows

[Violet2]

DH and I both have dirty elbows.

Any sure fire fixes? We want to get the gunk off and soften. Softening is the easy part, it's the sloughing off that we're stuck on.

I have some glycolic acid lotion which helps.

But I've had bad elbows all my life and never found a good fix for them.

Any one here have the secret?

Thanks
V

[partymoo]

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[Alicia P]

I know this is gonna sound silly, but I use sandpaper... A 220 (or higher) grit very fine sandpaper, from the hardware store... : It is cheaper than the stuff you find in the health and beauty dept. I use it on my heels and knees, but I don't see why it wouldn't work on elbows too! Before you take a shower, while still dry, just lighty sand off the dead dry skin. It shouldn't hurt, if it does sand gentler. *Don't try to sand all the dry skin off the 1st time. Take your shower, and use your fav lotion after. It may take a few times of sanding before every shower, but soon you can do it less often.

[tinybutterfly]

Cut a lemon in half, rest your elbows in them for awhile...not sure how to make the lemons stay stable on the table...I guess cut the bottems a bit. Anyway, the acid from the lemon will lighten the color on your elbows and soften the skin. I haven't had to do this yet, but know I will eventually.

Hope something works for you.

[Violet2]

Thank you for the responses!

I need to get a loofah, the plastic thingy I have is crap.

I had read about the lemons but wasn't sure if it would really work. Does it really work?

The glycolic acid lotion helps, but it's hard to remember to apply it and I worry about getting it on DD by accident.

I may have to try sandpaper...

V

[artemis33]

I have this problem too and I hate it! My knees are a bit dark too but not as bad.

I tried using a 'foot paddle' (which is essentially like sand paper) but it didn't really work well for me. It just made the area really abnormally pink/smooth and sore and within a short time it returned to dark and dry.


I finally tried the lemons on my elbows the other day after reading this (had heard of it but never actually did it) and I thought it worked quite well! I think I will need several 'treatments' to get them looking good, but after just one I could really tell a difference! The area was softened and I used a rough wash cloth to slough off a bunch of dead dry skin after soaking in the lemons for about 15 min. Then I used a nice thick moisturizer.

Good luck - I hope it works for you! I'm excited at the prospect of getting mine looking nice again