A common reason for the knees becoming dark is excessive kneeling. When it comes to elbows, discolouration occurs as a consequence of too much friction. At the workplace, our elbows tend to contantly graze against the arms of our chairs and tables, causing darkening to occur. Another reason is that the knees and elbows are where the maximum amount of sweat, dust and grime get accumulated. Lack of proper skin care can also contribute to the problem. The knees and elbows need to be as much moisturised as the face and other parts of the body. And they are very often ignored resulting in a high percentage of dead skin.
Dark knees are always embarrassing for girls, they cannot wear short dresses. Excessive kneeling is one reason for dark knees. Same is the case for dark elbows. At workplace and tables our elbow is
Lemon Salt Scrub
* Squeeze the juice out of two quarter wedges of a lemon, add salt then scrub into your elbows gently, trying to sluff away the dead skin. Then take the lemon wedges and lean your elbows on them (one elbow on each). Rest like this for 10 minutes. Do this daily until the dark patches disappear.
Lemon Soft Scrub
* Mix fresh lemon juice and baking soda to make a thick paste, apply to dry elbows. Gently rub in to exfoliate the skin and leave to sit for about 15 minutes. Wash off and apply a moisturizer or Vaseline.
Basic Maintenance Treatment: Exfoliate or scrub elbows daily then apply honey, Vaseline or a rich moisturizer to elbows. If using honey, leave on for 30 minutes before washing off.
Tips: Use a clean sock, cut off to have two open ends, and slide on over your elbows when applying moisturizing treatments to try to protect the moisturizer from rubbing off (especially good for overnight treatments). You could also wrap your elbows in plastic wrap.
If your elbow patches are thick and quite dark, this will take several regular treatments to clear up.
– A popular home remedy for discoloured knees and elbows involves rubbing lemon rind on the affected area frequently. Lemon juice has bleaching properties which helps in lightening the skin. A good idea would be to rub lemon rind on the discoloured portions just before retiring to bed and leaving the lemon juice on your skin overnight.
– As an alternative you can use honey. Honey’s softening properties are very beneficial.
– Application of aloe vera gel regularly on dark knees and elbows is also known to be helpful.
– You could even indulge in the creamy goodness of cocoa butter. Pamper your skin with cocoa butter and dab a little extra on dark knees and elbows.
– A pumice stone is quite effective in removing dead skin. When having a bath wet the pumice stone and move it in a circular motion on your knees and elbows.
– Coconut oil has rich moisturizing properties and is a good tonic for the skin. Apply coconut oil all over your body dabbing that extra bit more on your elbows and knees before a bath, and then wash it off.
– You can make an excellent exfoliant at home using gram flour and yoghurt. Massage the mixture on your knees and elbows. Doing this regularly imparts a glow to your knees and elbows.
– Make a paste of Tulsi leaves with hot water and apply it twice a day on dark knees and elbows.
Avoid the following
– Using a soap that is too harsh. Glycerine soaps and soaps with moisturisers are most effective when it comes to softening the skin.
– Going out during the day without a sunscreen. Use a good sunscreen of SPF 20 or more.
Remember these small things
– To sleep well and hydrate yourself adequately: As this is a skin problem ensure that you have sufficient amount of sleep (around 8 hours is great, if not, aim for at least 6) and drink eight glasses of water every day.