Why lips are chapped and what to do about it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Life hacker figured out how to protect lips, when to go to the doctor and which medicine is the most delicious.

There are many blood vessels and nerve endings in the lips, and the skin there is thin, there are no sebaceous glands and fatty lining in it. This is why lips are so sensitive. For some purposes, this is even very good, but exactly until the delicate skin cracks and the lips turn into a desert landscape.

Let's figure out why this is happening.

Why do lips crack?

Cold

When it's very cold outside, unprotected lips immediately feel it. The vessels in the lips shrink and cease to nourish the surface of the lips. And if you do not protect yourself with anything (do not close your mouth and do not use special cosmetics), then the frost also affects the moisture in the upper layers of the skin of the lips. Thin skin, having lost fluid, becomes dry and fragile.

Heat

The heat, although it does not constrict the blood vessels (quite the opposite), but contributes to the general dehydration of the body. The feeling of dryness appears on the tongue, throat and, of course, on the lips. Lack of moisture increases the fragility of delicate skin, hence the cracks.

The habit of licking lips

When saliva dries up, lips lose moisture and natural lubrication, so they crack more. If you have a habit of licking or biting your lips, watch when it is most noticeable. As a rule, banal stress is to blame for this.

Allergy

Have you noticed that sometimes you eat a product, and it burns everything in your mouth? Perhaps this is how oral allergy syndrome manifests itself, from which lips can also deteriorate.

Dangerous food

Some food does not cause allergies, but even without it spoils the view. For example, food with a lot of vinegar (salads or canned food), some fruits with a high acid content (citrus fruits, kiwi), hot spices, salty snacks irritate and dry the skin, which immediately becomes covered with a network of cracks.

Bad cosmetics

Expired or simply low-quality cosmetics, of course, have not made anyone better.

But sometimes even the means of trusted brands lead to the fact that the lips are chapped. Moreover, dryness appears, even if you take hygienic lipstick, specially made so that such problems do not occur. So this lipstick just doesn't suit you.

Take a closer look at how your lips feel after lipstick. Do you need to apply the product three times a day, otherwise the skin shrinks from dryness? Buy another lipstick that works for you. It may take a long time to search.

Aggressive peeling

If you constantly use harsh scrubs or even lip brushes while washing your face, you can damage your delicate skin and cause ugly cracks. So be careful with smoothness.

Infections

The most common infection that affects the lips is the herpes simplex virus, the so-called cold sore. Exacerbations pass without problems, unless a bacterial infection is attached.

In some cases, the lips are chapped, especially in the corners, due to a fungal infection - candidiasis. This is a common thrush that has developed in the mouth. This often happens in children.

It is necessary to go to the doctor if the inflammation is pronounced, the lips are red and sore, the dryness of the lips does not go away by itself, or if there is a white coating around the cracks.

Once you heal the infection, the cracks will disappear. How and what exactly to treat in such cases, the dermatologist will tell you, because the treatment depends on what kind of infection you have.

Where do jams in the corners of the mouth come from?

The cracks in the corners of the lips, the so-called seizures, are the most disgusting, because they hurt a lot, do not allow you to open your mouth and do not go away for a long time.

The main reasons for their appearance are the same as with normal dry lips, but there are additional factors.

1. Chronic diseases. For example, diabetes mellitus or any skin disease.
2. Lack of vitamins A or B2, possibly iron deficiency. But this is a condition that occurs only with an unbalanced diet. Therefore, switch to healthy foods and a complete diet so as not to suffer from skin problems. To find out if you have enough iron, get a routine blood test.
3. Humidity. If the corners of the lips are constantly wet with saliva, the wrong bite may be to blame. Check with your dentist. Perhaps it will be possible to fix this.

How to heal chapped lips at home

When the lips are already chapped and rough, you need to make a little effort so that the unpleasant symptoms go away.

First, you can't bite your lips or tear off tough skin scales, even if you really want to. So we only more injure the skin and prolong the flaking.

Secondly, moisturize your lips with special balms or lipsticks. It is better not to buy products in jars, so as not to touch them with your fingers and not to apply a pack of microbes to the lips along with the balm.

Thirdly, try natural and as simple as possible products based on wax, petroleum jelly. The more impurities in the composition, the higher the likelihood that this balm is not suitable for you.

What else to apply on chapped lips

If you are desperate to find the same lip balm in stores that will help, use simple tools.

Ordinary natural honey is a good moisturizer. It is better to apply it before bed, so as not to succumb to temptation and not to lick sweet lips.

If you are allergic to honey, try cocoa, coconut, almond, sea buckthorn, rosehip, and calendula butter. They trap moisture, soften the skin and help cracks heal faster.

What to do to keep your lips from chapping

The main prevention is simple:

1. Drink as soon as you feel dry mouth.
2. Use indoor humidifiers.
3. Protect lips from the sun with a cream with a UV filter or lipstick.
4. Protect lips from frost with hygienic greasy lipstick or petroleum jelly.
5. In winter and autumn, cover your mouth with a scarf from snow, rain and wind.
6. Use only high quality cosmetics.
7. Avoid eating irritating foods.
8. Learn to stay calm and not get nervous.