# Help me with my dry, scratchy elbows **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 4, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829 "2012-04-04T16:48:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/1 "2012-04-04T16:48:11Z")
It was on the Dope I discovered the usefulness of the Pedi-Egg, which has done wonders for my feet - they are smooth and nice all the time now. Now i need something for my elbows. Anybody have any neat tricks? I can’t use the Pedi-Egg; the skin is just not the same. Lotion doesn’t really do the trick. I use exfoliating wash but it’s not enough. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/2 "2012-04-04T17:01:50Z")
Try an exfoliating scrub and the most moisturizing cream you can. Used daily, this should make a difference within a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/3 "2012-04-04T17:25:35Z")
Ditto on the exfoliating scrub. You need to get the dead skin off or moisturizer can’t do anything for you. Look for a facial scrub, [something like this one](http://www.amazon.com/St-Ives-Fresh-Invigorating-Apricot/dp/B000UVWGGA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1333560155&sr=8-3), and use it as the last step in your shower/bath, after the dead skin has had a chance to get wet and soften up again. And then moisturize as soon as you towel off, before your elbows have a chance to get dried out again. After a few weeks of this sort of daily treatment you should see a difference. Once your elbows are as soft as you want, you should plan to exfoliate once or twice a week, more if you find you’re getting rough dry skin again. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/4 "2012-04-04T19:24:56Z")
I see that you’ve tried an exfoliating wash. Have you tried soaking the elbows before you exfoliate? I find that I have to be patient and use something long term to see elbow results. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/5 "2012-04-04T19:39:24Z")
The exfoliating helps a lot - they are much better than they used to be - but I still get these nasty patches of dry skin occasionally. It’s almost like winter eczema. I manage the dry skin elsewhere but the elbows defeat me. ☹ I’ll try to exfoliate more often; maybe that’s the only problem. Laziness. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/6 "2012-04-04T20:15:07Z")
Do you have a humidifier at home? Winter dryness is definitely one potential culprit. I have similar problems with very dry knuckles, but already they’re getting better with no effort on my part, due to the weather. You might also see better benefits from moisturizing if you pull something over the skin to trap in the moisture, and try to do it overnight. Maybe if you cut the toes out of a long sock and pulled it up over your elbow after applying lotion, it would help. You can do this with socks on your feet and gloves on your hands for better results, so it seems like the same would apply to elbows. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/7 "2012-04-04T20:32:51Z")
Do you use handcream? If so, my mom claims she has soft elbows because she has always rubbed the excess handcream off on her elbows. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/8 "2012-04-04T22:17:22Z")
Mika, just think about this. You say that your elbows are dry. What part of you is always moist? Your mouth and tongue! Isn’t the answer obvious?!? Whenever your elbows are dry, just lick them. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/9 "2012-04-05T06:31:08Z")
Do you by chance have a desktop PC? Ever since we got ours, and I prop my elbows on the desk, I’ve found they feel like elephant’s knees look. Cornhuskers is a great moisturizer. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/10 "2012-04-05T11:33:30Z")
I made my daughter a sugar scrub with coconut oil for Christmas. I’ve been using it every few days on my dry cracked elbows and now they’re as soft as the insides of my arms, which are now as soft as a baby’s bottom. I just threw in some sugar, brown sugar, and enough pie spice to make it smell nice and stirred it up good with half a jar of melted coconut oil. Nothing fancy, just the kind they sell in the grocery store here for about eight bucks a jar. You don’t even have to add spices, I just did it for a holiday scent. I swear by this stuff! I have always had very dry skin (everywhere except my face) but since I’ve been using this scrub I simply do not have dry skin anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/11 "2012-04-05T13:43:43Z")
In answer to everyone’s questions: 1. Do have a humidifier and turn it on regularly. It has helped a LOT. Right now, one elbow is fine and the other is super scratchy. This is mainly because I succumbed and scratched it. I am studiously avoiding scratching it now. 2. Can’t lick elbows; would look silly trying. 3. I use hand cream 4. I do have a desktop PC, and have it set up so it isn’t easy for me to rest my elbows. Still do it, but less so. 5. I’m going to have to use the sock trick, I think. I have this awesome foot stuff; I bet it will work on elbows, too, I just need to cover them. I will cut some tonight. Other than that, it’s just a curse. When all the tricks just make them “better” and not “great” you know it sucks. Thanks, all! ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/12 "2012-04-05T13:45:58Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > 1. Can’t lick elbows You just haven’t tried hard enough. Anyone can do it. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/13 "2012-04-07T23:36:11Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > It was on the Dope I discovered the usefulness of the Pedi-Egg, which has done wonders for my feet - they are smooth and nice all the time now. Holy crap! I bought one today on the basis of your post and with just one half-hearted grating(?) my feet, especially my heels look fantastic. A miracle product, indeed! ---
**Author:** ![kjbrasda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/74df32/32.png) [@kjbrasda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjbrasda)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/14 "2012-04-08T03:44:56Z")
Vegetable shortening actually works pretty well for elbows and knees. A little too greasy for anywhere else though. ---
**Author:** ![apocalypse\_ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@apocalypse\_ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apocalypse_ed)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/15 "2012-04-09T17:05:14Z")
I had the same issues with my elbows being dry and scratchy, almost like sandpaper. It turns out my thyroid was not working very well (Hypothyroid) and I started armor which is a thyroid medicine, and with in a month my elbows are soft and smooth. After talking with my doc I learned that dry elbows are one of the symptoms of a thyroid issue, you may want to get some blood work done. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/16 "2012-04-09T19:33:02Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Holy crap! I bought one today on the basis of your post and with just one half-hearted grating(?) my feet, especially my heels look fantastic. A miracle product, indeed! It’s fucking awesome. I call it “shaving my feet”. 😃 Seriously though it’s the best thing ever. Better than veggie grease, I use this amazing stuff for my feet…hang on let me see if I can find the name of it. Ah, yes: O’keefe’s Healthy Feet Creme. It sells on Amazon and is not very greasy at all. You wouldn’t think it works but it does, amazingly so. I highly recommend, and this is what I intend to use on my elbows, too, when I remember. No thyroid issues - the majority of my skin issues are actually caused by allergies. I went to the dermatologist a while ago, and she said that was one of the many possible side effects. It is controlled somewhat by antihistamine but it doesn’t help that it is SO dry here. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/17 "2012-04-09T22:32:37Z")
> [@kjbrasda](#): > > Vegetable shortening actually works pretty well for elbows and knees. A little too greasy for anywhere else though. Olive oil, too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![vifslan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f4b2a3/32.png) [@vifslan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vifslan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/18 "2012-04-10T14:59:00Z")
Apart from the moisturising and scrubbing bits already recommended, there’s a trick with lemon juice that works for me. When you’ve squeezed the juice out of a lemon, save the squeezed-out halves and soak your elbows in them. Keep at it for a few minutes, the longer the better, and follow up with a scrub and some heavy-duty body butter. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/19 "2012-04-11T02:39:52Z")
You need **Amlactin**. Get it on Amazon. Yes it’s double the price of Eucerin but you need half as much because you don’t need to constantly reapply. The strong 12% AHA lotion sloughs off dead, dry, flaking skin. Psoraisis, eczema, psh it laughs at them all. Ashy skin? It wheezes for air at the hilarity. I bought it on the recommendation of my Indian dermatologist a few years ago. Damn, I miss her. There’s really nothing as wonderful as a physician of your ethnicity/skin type. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829/20 "2012-04-11T03:21:59Z")
It’s worth a try to treat for a few days with antifungals (usually sold for athalete’s foot, Ting or Tinactin are a couple of brand names.) Ammonium lacte is great for dry sin but it is a prescription product. To echo **apocalypse ed** when I started taking thyroid meds, my elbows greatly improved. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-my-dry-scratchy-elbows/617829.md?page=2)