Chapped lips are hard to avoid and can't be cured right away. For most people, prevention is the best way. However, there are also some people who find it difficult to prevent it because the condition is a long-term symptom and side effect that must be faced. Chapped lips can be treated (and prevented) with water and lip balm. Call your doctor if you have severe or chronic chapped lips.
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Part 1 of 2: Treating Chapped Lips
Step 1. Apply lip balm
Choose a plain beeswax moisturizer, or one that contains sunscreen. Since it protects your lips from the weather, be sure to use lip balm in hot or windy weather. Lip balm also covers the cracks in the lips and prevents infection. Apply lip balm before traveling, after eating or drinking, or when it has worn off.
- Avoid flavored lip balms if you have a habit of licking your lips. Choose a lip balm that doesn't taste good and contains SPF.
- Avoid using lip balm that is packaged in a pot-shaped container because the touch of the hand on the moisturizer can make bacteria grow and spread in cracked lips.
- When the weather is windy, cover your mouth with a scarf or hood. Do not make the lip wound worse during the healing process.
Step 2. Don't unplug it
You may be tempted to scratch, pluck dry skin, and bite chapped lips, but these are not good for healing. Plucking chapped lips can injure them, make them bleed, slow the healing process, and invite infection. These things can also trigger cold sores (blisters caused by the herpes simplex virus) if you are prone to them.
Don't peel chapped lips! During the healing process, the skin should be treated gently. Exfoliating the skin can also trigger an infection
Step 3. Hydration is important for the healing process
Dehydration is a common cause of chapped lips. Mild cases of chapped lips can be cured in a few hours by drinking water. More severe cases will take longer: drink water when you eat, before and after exercise, and whenever you feel thirsty.
Dehydration is especially common in winter. Avoid using space heaters or buy a humidifier
Step 4. Call the doctor
If your lips are red, sore, and swollen, you may have cheilitis. Cheilitis is caused by irritation or infection. If your lips are so chapped that they crack, bacteria can get into them and cause cheilitis. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics or antifungal creams that you can apply until the cheilitis improves. Tongue licking is a common cause of cheilitis, especially in children.
- Cheilitis can be a symptom of contact dermatitis. If you are prone to rashes, talk to your doctor about a possible diagnosis of contact dermatitis.
- Cheilitis can be acute or chronic.
- Certain medications and supplements can increase your risk of developing cheilitis. One of the most common drugs is retinoids. Some other drugs are lithium, high doses of vitamin A, d-penicillamine, isoniazid, phenothiazine, and chemotherapy drugs such as busulfan and actinomycin.
- Chapped lips are a symptom of many diseases, including autoimmune diseases (such as lupus and Crohn's disease), thyroid disease, and psoriasis.
- People with Down syndrome often have chapped lips.
Part 2 of 2: Preventing Chapped Lips
Step 1. Stop licking your lips
You may subconsciously lick your lips to make them wet when they feel dry. Unfortunately, lip licking has the opposite effect because saliva washes away the natural oils of the lips and causes dehydration and chapped lips. If you notice that you are licking your lips, use a lip balm. If you compulsively lick your lips, call your doctor and ask for a referral to a therapist or counselor. Compulsive lip licking and biting can be a symptom of many disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB).
- Apply lip balm frequently to remind yourself not to bite or lick your lips. Choose a lip balm that tastes bad and contains SPF,
- Children aged between 7-15 years are prone to cheilitis due to lip licking.
Step 2. Breathe through your nose
Breathing through the mouth can dehydrate the lips. If you tend to breathe through your mouth a lot, try changing this by getting into the habit of breathing through your nose. Be still for a few minutes each day: inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Try sleeping with nasal dilator strips (special tapes that are placed on the nose) to open the nasal cavity.
Step 3. Avoid allergens
Avoid allergens and dyes from the mouth. Allergies or intolerances to even light foods can cause chapped lips. Call your doctor if you have not been diagnosed with any allergies but have other symptoms (such as digestive problems or a rash) and have chapped lips at the same time. Ask for a referral to an allergy specialist if the disease is difficult to diagnose.
- Check the ingredients in the lip balm you use. Avoid any ingredients that you might be allergic to, such as red dye.
- Some people suffer from allergies to para-aminobenzoic acid, which is found in many SPF lip balms. If you have a sore throat or shortness of breath, stop using the lip balm and call your doctor immediately.
Step 4. Keep lips hydrated and protected
The best way to prevent chapped lips is to act as if you really do have chapped lips. Drink water with every meal, and keep a glass of water near you whenever you feel thirsty. Apply lip balm when going outside or when the heating is on. Cover your face when it's windy, and use a lip balm with SPF in it when it's hot.
