Volumetrics intersection (cycles)

I’m making a character that I want to look smoky, hazy, ghostly. A simple way I thought was using cycles volumetrics.


Pretty close to what I want. But as you can see, wherever there are mesh intersections - the bend of his shoulders, elbows, fingertips intersecting, I end up with nasty artefacts where the volumetric disappears.

Can anyone suggest a workaround for this? All ideas welcome. I’m hoping I can avoid having to make heaps of corrective shape keys to avoid all intersections.

Thanks.