What do we know about the skin around knees and elbows?
It is usually thicker than its surroundings and has more folds, is rough and dry and appears to be dirty even though the part may have been covered like full sleeved clothes and jeans. The skin is at least a tone darker than the original skin color. It looks ugly and never seems to restore to its original state.
Why is the skin dark?
Have you seen a baby with dark elbows and knees? No, obviously. It is the result of friction like leaning on the elbows or knees which causes the maximum problem. In schools, we are supposed to sit on the ground or participate in sports activities which causes the knee skin to grow drier. And, of course, due to our bad habits, we seem to lean on our elbows rather than sit straight and keep a good posture. The other cause is lack of hygiene and improper care. So, your affected areas need more care now on.
There are other reasons as well. Being overweight is one of them. And, another of the most pertinent reasons is eating a lot of sugar. Now, I would suggest you to ponder on certain points? Is your menstrual cycle highly irregular? Have you been to a doctor or ignored it? Are you a teenager going through puberty? Are you having any other dark patches or blotches on your skin, especially near your genitals or breast or neck? If all these questions are answered in negative, you do not need any professional advice. If not, you might need to consult a doctor and get yourself checked. Darkening of skin is usually a symptom to some of the diseases caused by hormonal imbalance in the body.
An Advice: When you read these questions, I am sure everyone of you would feel that all the questions are positive and may get panicked. So, I would like to suggest that you talk to your mom about all these issues and then come up to a conclusion. Always remember many of our problems including skin and hair conditions are due to weight issues which seems always out of control. So, take time and start with losing weight. I am sure that many of your would notice an immediate change. Even the cure for the said diseases is to lose weight so no need to think much. Now, on a lighter note, let us go to the home remedies and see what we can do to get rid of the dark skin.
Home Remedies and Habits to get rid of the Dark Skin
- First things first. Lose weight. Start pranayam. It is the simplest of the exercises and extremely relaxing.
- Secondly, stop munching on sugar and processed food. All the processed food including breads, cereals, energy drinks, soft drinks, energy bars and health foods are extremely high in their sugar content. And, they can wreak havoc with your system. Feel like having a dessert. Go for yogurt banana custard which is satisfying enough for the palate. Or, prepare the particular junk food which you feel like munching on at home.
- Stop leaning on your elbows and knees and you would see the difference in two days. Trust me, I have been there and done that.
- Always use a moisturizing and little rough body scrub made from honey or oils like coconut, almond, olive and such. They help in getting rid of the dead cells in these areas in an effective way. Sugar and rock salt are obvious choices for the granular part of the scrub. Use Cane Sugar (powdered jaggery). It is widely available and use organic products as much as possible.
- Apply a heavy moisturizer on your legs and arms. They are, generally, the driest parts of the body even if your skin type is oily. Keep the elbows and knees moisturized.
- Use a loofah at least 3 times a week in your bath if you have sensitive and dry skin and once a day for other skin types. It helps in regular exfoliation of the area and keeps the skin smooth.
- Applying coconut oil or almond oil is also beneficial as they are best oils for curing dry skin.
- Use bleaching fruits (fruits good for oily skin) in conjunction with moisturizing agents (liquids good for dry skin) of your applying as a knee packs, elbow pack or scrub. Like, lemon juice with sugar is a good option, even better is tomato juice or pomegranate juice with honey or oils. Fresh Lime (mausambi) juice or orange will give more potent results than lemon.
- Coconut oil and Walnut powder make good exfoliators for dark skin patches.
- Another great remedy which surely works is milk cream. Mix milk cream with a pinch of turmeric and apply on the affected areas.
- Aloevera (straight from the plant) also shows lightening of the skin.
- Keep the elbows and knees covered as much as possible.
- There should be no deep lines visible on the joints. If you can see lines, that means your skin is dry and you need to moisturize it. Apply oil from Vitamin E supplements topically.
- Sesame oil is great for moisturizing such areas as it has especially high proportion of essential fatty acids.
- Massage the areas with oil daily. That will make the skin soft.
Note: The skin on elbows and knees always look little darker than original skin color because of the folds in the skin which increases if you are overweight. So, to check if the color of knees and elbows have lightened, folds on the elbows or knees and see the color. That should give you the accurate state of your skin.
Thankoo so much!One more problem of mine which I want u to address!I have lines around my neck!Is there any way to remove them or will I hve to live wid them?
Oh, You hit on my problem 🙂 I too have lines on the neck and they are actually pretty deep halfway in the neck. I am not very sure if we can get rid of the lines but I do try one thing which is stretching the neck so that your nose is facing the ceiling and holding the teeth together so it tightens the neck skin. It helps with double chin but with neck lines, I have no idea. I didn’t see any change but I am not very consistent with it. I’ll try to post about it.
Yar this is a problem!I always feel jealous of people who have such long and beautiful neck!I have now started noticing my younger cousins!I have seen that they also have lines!I dont know y?Even aishwariya has lines on the neck 😀
Frankly I think everyone has lines on the neck…thats probably coz of the way we hold our neck all our lives…its just that some people hide it through makeup….btw probably applying oil might help….I am not sure…just an advise…I’ll try to do a post on it….
I have the same problem with darkness around my neck and it is acanthosis nigricans & is due to insulin resistance.That means you have 2 much insulin in ur body due to eating v. sweet/carby foods.Its common if ur a person of color or overweight.
http://myfuturestartstoday.blogspot.com/
Thank you Sharon for pointing that out 🙂
I did not want to frighten anyone by taking the name of very complicated conditions that is why I just advised that the darkness can be due to weight issues and too much sugar and a check up with doctor is good if the list of questions I have asked are in affirmative.
how to get rid of stretch marks on knees? it luks awfull!
I have the same exact problem! I use coco butter and massage it on……but the stretch marks are still there!
stretch marks are impossible to get rid of!!
http://perfectskincareforyou.blogspot.com/2010/09/get-rid-of-stretch-marks.html
tweezing hair also causes dark spots on skin.
TWEEZING HAIR FROM FACE AND NECK CAN ALSO CAUSE DARK SPOTS.
So true!!
Hey
Stretch marks are really difficult to get rid of. I have written a post on it: Get rid of stretch marks
Hope it helps!!
wow! this was such an informative post.thanks a bunch
Hey Anju, thank you for kind words and do keep dropping in 🙂
Greattt tips 🙂 Will follow them
i have dark skin at my sensitive areas because of using hair removal creams in childhood without knowing the procedure of its use.So can you please suggest any tip for lightening that…it would be a great help.
you can follow the tips mentioned in the post. also, do check out: http://perfectskincareforyou.blogspot.in/2012/04/my-top-5-home-remedies-this-summer-diy.html
all the remedies help in lightening of the skin.
i checked this page but this is not opening u can u give me direct page web for this problem
check this:
http://perfectskincareforyou.blogspot.in/2012/04/my-top-5-home-remedies-this-summer-diy.html
great help, thanks so much, get my treadmill at end of week so sure that will help!
hope it does!
for the neck make sure u massage upwards everyday when u wash your face…it realy helps to strengthen the skin 🙂 and thanks for the tips on the elbow!will definitely try it because coconut oil works with my hair well!! smooth and stronger hair!
yes massaging upwards is very beneficial for neck skin. sure do try and let me know how it worked for you 🙂
Hi Swati,
My baby is 5 months old.She was born with fair skin.Now she has become dark. I am massaging her with almond oil and for bath using Dermadew soap.After bath i am applyingDerma dew aloe vera gel for her. Please suggest me some remedies to make her colour fair.Also she is on formula milk. But her intake is very less and she looks same how she was born…Please suggest me what i should do to make her drink more milk and what extra foods i can give for her to make her put on weight…Thanks a ton..
hello Nirmala…first of all, please do not worry about her skin color right now! she is too young and babies skin keeps on changing till they grow up to 5 and even later in life!
also for her nutritional issues, please consult a paediatrician. they will be able to guide you properly.
What should apply for my baby for fairness. She was fair when she was born and now she has becomedark.I use almond oil for massaging,dermadew soap for bath and derma dew aloevera cream after bath. Please suggest me somthing
please let her grow up to 5 without doing anything. her true skin color will be revealed then. baby’s skin keeps on changing color till they grow up!
My baby is on formula milk who is 5 months old.she is not drinking even that properly. So she looks same how she was at the time of birth.let meknow what i should give to make her to drink more milk and what food i can introduce to make her put on weight..
i would suggest you to please consult a paediatrician. he will guide you better 🙂
Hi iam vani ,
Please let me know some home made baby foods.
hello Vani…m really sorry i have no idea about them! please consult a doctor and your elders who are more experienced 🙂
I had really dark knees and elbows nothing is working
did you follow everything mentioned in this post? then, try out these home remedies on your knees and elbows:
http://perfectskincareforyou.blogspot.in/2012/04/my-top-5-home-remedies-this-summer-diy.html
If you want any real effect.
use hydroquinone 4% twice daily on the area.for 2 to 3 months..depending on the severity of the darkening.
If you want a real effective solution.
You should use hydroquinone 4% twice daily for 2 to 3 months depending on the severity of the condition.
how long will lemon juice take?
it really depends on how your skin reacts to the remedy.
i want to know how to get rid of the pores, dark patches, pimples and white tones would u help me pls..
you can not get rid of open pores.
https://swathyandsky.com/2012/04/open-pores-readers-query.html
for pimples, try ginger juice.
https://swathyandsky.com/2010/07/use-ginger-to-get-rid-of-acne.html
for dark patches and fairness:
https://swathyandsky.com/2012/04/my-top-5-home-remedies-this-summer-diy.html
https://swathyandsky.com/2012/09/5-steps-to-get-fairer-skin-five-series.html
Try scrubbing you legs with mixture of salt and lemon juice.It works..
Try scrubbing you legs with mixture of salt and lemon juice.It works.
Grace Crawford DFW Spine & Joint Center Knee Doctor
thnx 4 the tips…one more question..my neck look darker, is there any tips 4 get rid of this prob???
thnx 4 the tips…one more question..my neck look darker, is there any tips 4 get rid of this prob???
thnx 4 the tips…one more question..my neck look darker, is there any tips 4 get rid of this prob???
thnx 4 the tips…one more question..my neck look darker, is there any tips 4 get rid of this prob???
Could I just use olive oil by its self? I read somewhere else that it can be effective on its own.
Could I just use olive oil by its self? I read somewhere else that it can be effective on its own.
Could I just use olive oil by its self? I read somewhere else that it can be effective on its own.
Eat no sugar, and exfoliate with salt. works on arms too.
Hi try bio -oil you will be amazed at the results.
i have got allergy due to some cream and my knee has become extremely dark what shal i do
hey Jaya. oh, that’s sad. don’t worry. if you have stopped using the cream, your skin will come back to its original color. btw, are you using some pain-relief gel? generally, all the headache balms or pain-relief products make the skin darker. just follow the same advises as above – exfoliate and moisturize. hope this helps 🙂
Baking soda is one of the most useful and effective home remedy for treating dark skin of the elbow and knee. It acts as a cleanser. It can help to remove the dead skin cells.
I am 15 year old girl and i have been skin issues id really appreciate some help with it please better product’s and heagine techniques please an thank u
i have ingrown hairs from shaving and drakness on my kness elbows and armpits and my hair from my head been falling a bit and a bit of pimples on my face not many though just small break out in summer wears out by winter hair fall since i strated dieting
My face has been fine for while just my skin i am worried
About id like a some advice on shaving with razors and a scrub or body wash to help with the hairs and drakness on my areas and moisturize (i d appreciate non home remedies ive tried way to many non work for long wear out eventually something i can continue on a daily basis and keep my skin clean and clear and soft and silky in my schedule please and thank u )
for shaving and related problems, try waxing only for normal areas and if you are talking about bikini line, please try this:
https://swathyandsky.com/2013/08/use-shaving-oil-to-get-rid-of-unwanted.html
darkness of knees and elbows you can check out the post above.
for darkness of underarms, it might be due to regular waxing or shaving, I am not sure which you do. So, you can try changing to flavored wax or chocolate wax which helps reduce the darkness.
reg. the issues since your dieting, it might be just that your body is not getting enough of the nutrients. try eating a balanced diet and do regular exercise!!
I hope it was helpful!!
Hey, I really liked you’re page but I gab a question. Is it true that if you dont clean yourself( like scrub you’re Elbows and knees) before hitting puberty, you’ll never get clean(in you’re knees and elbows) to be specific