clove oil to stop licking?

Rufus, god love him, started licking at his elbow last night. He wouldnt stop! Apparently he wasnt going to wait til tomorrow to have his stitches out and started in on it - slurping, drooling and generally juicy licking. I tried an ace bandage to get him to stop and he managed to get that off too. Long story short in that short time he managed to give himself a lovely lick granuloma. Saw the vet this morning and they dug out the stitches. Since then he has left it completely alone so maybe it was the stitches themselves bothering him but now i have to keep him away from it. Vet doesnt want it covered and put some neo on it. I asked about putting clove oil around on the hair to keep him from licking at it and he said he really didnt know if it worked or not. What are your thoughts? So far he has shown no interest in it (his elbow)