Chapped lips are the result of dry, cracked skin on your lips due to cold or dry weather, sun exposure, frequently licking your lips or dehydration. You can treat chapped lips at home with the use of lip balm or ointment to ease any discomfort.
Apply a non-irritating lip balm (or lip moisturizer) several times a day and before bed. If your lips are very dry and cracked, try a thick ointment, such as white petroleum jelly. Ointment seals in water longer than waxes or oils. Slather on a non-irritating lip balm with SPF 30 or higher before going outdoors.
Some lip balms contain ingredients that can irritate or dry out your skin. Menthol, salicylic acid, cinnamic aldehyde and balms with flavoring can all cause lips to become dry. If you have sensitive skin or allergies, you may be at even greater risk of getting chapped lips when using these products.
While it may be tempting to peel the flakes and dead skin off your lips using your fingers for some quick relief, this practice actually perpetuates the lip-peeling problem. "Inevitably, you will tear into your healthy skin and make matters worse," Dr. Cheung says.
Vaseline is known as an occlusive, which means it can hold in moisture . If you use Vaseline on your lips before they're dry and chapped, you may be able to stave off dryness. However, petroleum jelly isn't all that effective at restoring moisture once it's been lost.
Should I pick or peel the dead skin off my lips? No, you should never pick or peel the dead skin off your lips because you could accidentally peel off too much and cause damage that will take a long time to heal. Careful exfoliation is a much safer way to remove dead skin from the lips.
Reach for your lip balm instead. Don't peel or bite flaky skin. The skin on your lips is thin and delicate. Picking at it can cause it to bleed and hurt, slow the healing process, and cause more irritation.
After three to four days, most of the peeling should be complete, but it may take anywhere from five to seven days before your fresh, new skin has developed. Within seven to fourteen days, your skin should be completely healed.
Exfoliative cheilitis is a rare reactive condition presenting as continuous peeling of the lips. Factitial cheilitis can present as exfoliative cheilitis when it is due to attention-seeking or factitial behaviour or an obsessive-compulsive tendency to pick or chap the lips (exfoliative).
Being under stress for a long period of time, with accompanying symptoms such as low mood and tiredness, can result in cracked lips. As well as this, a poor diet which is low in iron and B vitamins may lead to lips becoming dry and sore.
B vitamins
Chapped lips are a common symptom of deficiencies, especially in folate (vitamin B9), riboflavin (vitamin B2), and vitamins B6 and B12 ( 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ).
Dehydration is a major culprit when it comes to chapped lips. People may not notice when they are slightly dehydrated, so it is a good idea to make a habit of drinking water throughout the day. Dehydration occurs when the body loses more fluid than it takes in.
Use it as a lip balm
Keep your lips winter-safe by applying a coat of Vaseline on them overnight. Keeping it on overnight will seal in the moisture and soften and smoothen your lips.
So, should you use chapstick or Vaseline? Both! Chapstick moisturizes dry lips, and Vaseline helps in sealing the moisture in and keeping the skin barrier intact. While you can get away with using just chapstick, there is no point in using Vaseline without applying chapstick first.
When you apply Vaseline to your lips, the petroleum jelly acts as a protective barrier and prevents moisture from escaping. It's not going to add moisture. If you lick your lips before applying Vaseline and nothing else, you might make chapped lips worse because lips don't retain water very well.
Vitamin B-3 Without enough vitamin B-3 or niacin, a person may experience dry, cracked lips or tongue and a red, swollen mouth. A deficiency of this vitamin can also lead to dermatitis. People can get niacin in their diet by eating beef, pork, halibut, tuna, poultry, whole grains, dairy, and green leafy vegetables.
When estrogen and progesterone decrease in women experiencing menopause or the time around menopause, they may experience perimenopausal or menopausal dry mouth. This is when the salivary glands may decrease in their production, and a woman's mouth could have a dry, cotton-filled sensation to it.
Staying hydrated and drinking enough water throughout the day will help prevent your lips from drying out. You can even drink coconut water as it gives the body the minerals it needs to stay hydrated.
Carmex is a moisturizing and soothing lip balm for dry and chapped lips. It contains several emollients that form an occlusive barrier on the lips that soothe and softens dry lips. These emollients form a protective barrier that traps moisture in the skin to keep the lips hydrated.
Licking your lips when they're chapped will not make them better. In fact, according to the Dermatology Clinic at UAMS, licking your lips can actually make things worse. Chapped lips are caused by a number of factors. For most people, the weather is the main cause of chapped lips.
“If chapped lips continue for two to three weeks even after you've started moisturizing regularly, are staying hydrated, and avoiding licking, you should see a board-certified dermatologist,” Dr. Browne suggests.