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Chapped Lips
Nothing to smile about
A long bike ride. A summer day at the beach. An afternoon sail. What do these activities have in common? They are all likely to result in uncomfortably dry, chapped lips.
Two things are needed to keep your lips kissable: the first is moisture, and the second is something to keep that moisture in. Many types of lip balm are available to help retain your lips' natural moisture.
From talking to eating to smiling, your lips form a versatile, sensitive, and surprisingly complex organ. With proper care, they will remain kissable, comfortable, and serviceable.
Synonyms
- Cheilitis
- Chelosis
Detailed Description
Your lips have a complex structure. Starting at skin cells at the outermost layer, they progress to a mucus membrane in deeper layers. Oil-secreting (sebaceous) glands located in the deeper layers moisten the top layer. With repeated wetting and drying, the oils evaporate, leaving the thin skin layer dry and peeling.
How Common Are Chapped Lips?
Chapped lips can happen to anyone, but they happen more frequently to people who work outside and are exposed to wind, sun, and dry air. Smokers have dry lips more often than nonsmokers.
Possible Underlying Causes
Chapped lips occur when the natural oils that normally keep the lips moist begin to evaporate. The problem worsens when you lick your lips, further drying the outermost layer of skin cells as the water evaporates. Not drinking enough fluid can also cause the lips to chap.
Lips are susceptible to sunburn, just like any other part of the body. The skin on your lips may even be more susceptible because it does not tan the same way as the rest of your skin. Although most of us remember to use suntan lotion on the rest of our body before going into the sun, we may not protect our lips.
Chapped lips may also occur as a reaction to cosmetics such as lipstick. Dyes, fragrances, and other ingredients in lipsticks may cause the lips to dry.
Some drugs, like those designed to treat acne, reduce the production of sebum, the lips' natural moisturizer.
Smoking is a unique threat. The hot, dry smoke that surrounds the lips when smoking strips the natural moisture of the lips. Smokers are especially prone to dry, chapped lips.
Cheilitis is a swelling of the lips that can be caused by a number of factors, including lip-licking, abnormal position of the lips, allergic reaction, and underlying cellular causes. Chapped lips are only very rarely caused by a more serious medical condition.
Diagnosing the Underlying Cause
The following is a list of common causes of chapped lips. If none of these possible causes apply to you, or if your symptoms worsen, you may wish to consult your physician for further advice.
- Licking your lips
- Sun exposure
- Wind exposure
- Dry air
- Dehydration
- Smoking
- Allergic reaction, often to lipstick
- Drug reaction, often to prescription-strength acne medications
Goals of Treatment
The two primary goals of treating chapped lips are as follows:
- Restoring natural moisture to the lip skin
- Sealing in lip moisture
If you drink enough fluid (especially water), the body will do its part to restore your lips' natural moisture. An over-the-counter lip balm, preferably with dimethicone, will seal in that moisture by preventing evaporation at the lips' surface. Using a balm before putting on lipstick can keep lips moist.
A lip balm with sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or greater will not only help protect against sun damage, it may help prevent skin cancers caused by ultraviolet light. Aloe vera gel can also help heal cracked skin and seal in natural moisture.
Treatment Options
Treatments most commonly used
Second choices
- Cortisone 1% ointment
Dietary Modifications
- Make sure you get enough fluid by drinking six to eight glasses of water every day.
Preventing Chapped Lips
Us the following practices to reduce dry lips:
- Seal in natural moisture with lip balms, which come in two varieties: wax-based (such as ChapStick) and petroleum-based (such as Vaseline). Both work, though personal preferences differ. Moisturizing lipstick can also help. Lip balms evaporate much like natural lip moisture, so frequent use is important.
- Don't lick your lips -- it only dries them and contributes to chapping.
- Limit your time outdoors in cold, dry, or sunny weather. Wearing a hat on sunny days will help protect your lips and face from harmful rays.
- Drink sufficient fluids, especially on hot or dry days, to help your body to stay hydrated and your lips moisturized.
- Avoid smoking.
- If you breathe through your mouth when you sleep, this increases the amount of air that passes over your lips, which in turn dries them. You might consider sleeping on your side to help keep your mouth closed.
Self-Care Measures
If your lips have already become chapped, you can do the following to soothe them and hasten healing:
- A daily cool salt bath can help restore your lips' natural moisture. Use cool saltwater compresses made of one teaspoon of salt to one pint of water. Lay one over your lips for a while, then remove it, pat your lips dry, and apply a lip balm. Do this once daily for one week.
- If any spots on your chapped lips turn red, swell, ooze fluid, or become particularly painful, you may have an infection. Apply an over-the-counter antibiotic ointment.
Seek Medical Attention
Medical attention may be needed in the following circumstances:
- Chapped lips do not improve despite the use of lip balms, drinking enough fluid, avoiding hot, dry conditions, and quitting smoking
- Chapped lips persist for an extended period of time
Websites & Organizations
Acne Research Institute
1236 Somerset Lane
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Phone: 714-722-1805 or 800-235-2263
Allergy and Asthma Network
2751 Prosperity Avenue, Suite 150
Fairfax, VA 22031
Phone: 800-878-4403
Fax. 703-573-7794
American Academy of Dermatology
930 N. Meachum Road
P.O. Box 4014
Schaumburg, IL 60168-4014
American Skin Association
150 East 58th Street.32nd Floor
New York, NY 10155-0002
Phone: 212-753-8260
National Digestive Diseases Information
Box NDDIC
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone: 301-468-6344
National Health Information Center
P.O. Box 1133
Washington, DC 20013-1133
Phone: 301-565-4167 or 800-336-4797
Fax: 301-984-4256
Email: nhicinfo@health.org
Protocare
Sources & Further Reading
Books
Balch, James F. and Balch, Phyllis A. Prescription for Nutritional Healing. Garden City Park, NY: Avery Publishing, 1997.
Noble, John. Primary Care Medicine ed. St. Louis: Mosby, 1996.
Physicians' Desk Reference. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Co., 1998.
Articles
Axell, T, Skoglund, A. "Chronic Lip Fissures. Prevalence, Pathology and Treatment." Int J Oral Surg. 10(5):354-8. Oct 1981.
Baringer, JR. "The Biology of Herpes Simplex Virus Infection in Humans." Surv Ophthalmol. 21:2, 171-4. Sep-Oct 1976.
Bouquot, JE, Gundlach, KK. "Odd Lips: The Prevalence of Common Lip Lesions in 23,616 White Americans over 35 years of Age." Quintessence Int. 18(4):277-84. Apr 1987.
Heagerty, A, Gilkes, J. "Lip Dermatoses." Practitioner. 235(1498):49-54. Jan 1991.
Huang, CC, Arpey, CJ. "The Lips. Excision and Repair." Dermatol Clin. Vol. 16 no. 1 pp. 127-43.
Lamey, PJ, Biagioni, PA. "Relationship Between Iron Status and Recrudescent Herpes Labialis." Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 14(7):604-5. Jul 1995.
Page, RE, Stranc, M. "Normal Lip Function in Adults." Ann Plast Surg. 9(6):502-5. Dec 1982.
Schmidt, DD, Zyzanski, S, Ellner, J, Kumar, ML, Arno, J. "Stress as a Precipitating Factor in Subjects with Recurrent Herpes Labialis." J Fam Pract. 20(4):359-66. Apr 1985.
Shulman, JD, Lewis, DL, Carpenter, WM. "The Prevalence of Chapped Lips During an Army Hot Weather Exercise." Mil Med. 162(12):817-9. Dec 1997.
Shulman, JD, Carpenter, WM, Lewis, DL. "The Prevalence of Recurrent Herpes Labialis During an Army Hot Weather Exercise." J Public Health Dent. 52(4):198-203. Summer 1992.