Cry and cracking elbows and heels aren’t just unsightly, they can be downright painful! Unfortunately, this is the time of year for cracked skin. Between the dry air sucking all the moisture from our bodies and the constantly covered skin that never has time to breathe, it’s no wonder our skin is begging for a little extra love.

Fortunately, there are many ways you can treat your elbows and heels without spending a lot of money and time. Here are a few ideas to get you started to smooth skin, even on these often neglected body parts.

How to Treat Dry, Cracked Elbows and Heels Naturally

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1. Eliminate Bad Habits

There is a reason that your elbows and heels may be suffering. Certain things we do can contribute to stripping the skin on these areas of their health.

For example, leaning on your elbows for hours at a time when sitting at a desk can damage the tissue. Try to break yourself of this habit asap, because your elbows aren’t the only parts of your body suffering. Most of us simultaneously rest our faces in our hands, which leads to a whole host of other problems for our facial skin.

Your habits also affect your heel health. Prolonged standing can damage the skin on your heels, especially if you’re wearing uncomfortable shoes that offer very little support. If you have a job where standing is a must, at least spend your breaks sitting down.

You may not be able to completely eliminate the source of unhealthy elbow and heel skin, but try to minimize the situation if at all possible.

Related:Rehab Your Feet: 7 Steps to Stepping Pretty

2. Homemade Scrubs

A great way to reintroduce moisture to these often neglected parts is through the use of body scrubs. They have a two-fold benefit of helping exfoliate and lock in moisture.

You don’t have to spend a small fortune to reap the benefits of a scrub. They’re insanely easy to make with very inexpensive ingredients. You probably have everything you need in your pantry!

Although you can find a zillion and one fancy scrubs on Pinterest, you can whip up something simple in minutes. Just combine sugar or salt (for exfoliating) with a little olive oil. Mix until it has a good scrub consistency. If you want to get a bit fancier, add a drop or two of essential oil. I love peppermint for foot scrubs, it feels soooo good on tired toes!

If you plan to make a lot of natural beauty products, I recommend signing up for a Simply Earth subscription. Each month, you get pretty much everything you need to make at least 5 super simple health, beauty, and home fragrance products.

Prefer to just buy a scrub? Here’s a great choice:

3. Natural Oils

If scrubs just aren’t for you, don’t worry: you can still reap part of the benefits. There are several oils that are full of skin-softening nutrients that can be applied to your skin.

On the budget friendly side, try extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, or sweet almond oil. For something a little more exotic, hemp oil and argan oil work wonders.

I personally love Functional Remedies Hemp Oil. If you don’t love the odor of hemp oil, they have a really great salve that smells like oranges and spearmint.

These natural oils will lubricate your skin and leave you with exceptionally soft skin, even on normally rough body parts. I just use them plain sometimes. It’s quick and easy. If you want to liven them up a bit, you can add a couple drops of your favorite skin-friendly essential oil. I love lavender or chamomile.

4. Rub a Banana Peel on It

This may be unconventional and sound a little odd, but it is a natural way to save the more neglected of your body parts.

Bananas contain large amounts of vitamins and minerals, and this in combination with their antibiotic and antifungal properties can be helpful in healing dry skin.

Rub the banana peel on your elbows and heels in a circular motion for relief of cracked, dry skin.

5. Moisturizing From the Inside Out

When your skin is extremely dry, there is often more going on inside your body that needs to be taken care of. With the trend of low-fat diets that have swept the nation, many people are not taking in enough high quality oils and fats.

Be sure to eat plenty of healthy fats, such as those from nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocados, and fish such as salmon. Healthy fat does not make you fat, and in fact will help every body system function more optimally.

Our heels and elbows often contain the driest skin on our entire bodies. There is no need for this skin to suffer, however, as there are many natural remedies that can improve the skin’s elasticity and lubrication. Try some of these natural remedies for soft, smooth heels and elbows.

Do you have any other favorite natural remedies for dry and cracked feet or elbows?