Oh My, Dark Elbows! What Causes Them?

Probably, it is not much of a big deal if we see some parts of our skin which are different in color with other parts simply because as we’ve always seen already, there really are differences.

The elbow or the pair of elbows that humans have are among the body parts which are noticeable because sometimes or most of the time (for others), elbows are darker. Maybe you, who’s been reading this, have a dark elbow. Having dark elbows is one of the skin concerns of many people, especially women because it’s hard to know how they turned out to be dark. It’s hard to see them since we are not facing the same way as our elbows.

But really, why do elbows get dark? What causes them to get dark? Let’s answer that!

Here are 3 Main causes of dark elbows. You should know this so you’ll know what has lead to those dark elbows of yours, or if you don’t have dark elbows, for you to know what to avoid!

Cause # 1: Rubbing – FRICTION

One of the fascinating things about the human body is that it helps itself. Friction is rubbing. In rubbing, sometimes, there are disadvantages causing damage.

When a part of the body experiences friction, the skin on that part does something to hinder damage from happening or to lessen the possibilities. It counters the friction by growing thicker portions to shield the more sensitive and crucial areas.

We don’t notice that common and simple situations and things lead our elbows to friction. They include certain clothes or fabric that comes in contact to our body. Leaning on the table or on any hard and/or rough surface using the elbows also does.

Cause # 2: Soaking – SUN

Dead skin cells are themselves dead that’s why the elbows become ashy in color.

The dead skin cells penetrated by dirt particles becomes dark. The dark dead skin cells become even darker if exposed to the sun. The sun is important but too much is not, especially if the skin is very exposed.

When we soak ourselves under the sun after the dirt goes into the dead skin cells, elbows can go dark.

Cause # 3: Not Washing Well – DIRT

Come to think of it: Your elbow is dark. It’s because of dirt. But the “dirt” doesn’t fall off as dirt should, even if you try to remove it with your hands, right? So… is it dirt? What kind of dirt is that?!  

Imagining that it’s dirt that makes our elbows dark, ugh!\ It’s disgusting because it’s some sort of dirt that has stayed on our skin, and it’s so dirty, it became dark.

We might spend an hour in the bathroom, cleaning ourselves, washing so well and rinsing thoroughly, but still, there are times (or maybe most of the time?) when we get tired and lazy to clean those parts we can’t reach and see with our own eyes. It’s not an “I can’t reach it” reason when we talk about elbows because you can try it now — we can reach our elbows using our hands. Maybe sometimes, we’re just too lazy or we forget.

Cleaning and scrubbing elbows well while taking a bath is necessary because dirt just grows and it gets into layers of dead skin cells. The dirt develops and hides on the outer portion of the elbow that’s why it becomes dark. When the dirt gets in contact with the dead skin cells, they become darker. This is why we can notice that the elbow portion is much darker than the skin around it.

The darkness we see is a group of dead skin cells affected by dirt. They have to be removed so that elbows can be clean again.

It is essential to take into consideration everything written in this article if you don’t want to have such dark elbows and for you to get rid of them through getting rid of these things or just being more mindful. They seem so unavoidable, but you actually can, and that’s by being careful when you lean on the hard stuff and when you get exposed to the sun and by washing your elbows properly when you take a bath.