Cold, dry weather, sun damage, and frequently licking your lips are just some of the reasons your lips might feel dry and chapped.
Saliva, spicy food, the sun and certain products can be irritating to your lips, while some medications and health conditions can cause your lips to be drier than usual. For instance, medications that cause dry mouth can also lead to drier lips.
“Dehydration, weather changes, certain lip balm ingredients (like menthol, camphor, phenol, and salicylic acid), vitamin deficiencies (specifically iron, zinc, and Vitamin B12), sun damage, and lip-licking can all cause dry lips,” explains Jennifer Weiss, a PA at Marmur Medical.
Some say applying lip balm causes the body to stop generating natural moisture around the lips. That's just a myth, Dr. Piliang says. “Lip balms containing ingredients like phenol, menthol and salicylic acid actually make your lips drier.
Ingredients that lock in moisture
“Look for lip balms with white petrolatum, lanolin, shea butter, beeswax and ceramides because they all lock in moisture,” Stevenson said.
Some of the top hydrating and healing ingredients for dry lips are beeswax, shea butter, moringa oil, dimethicone, and petroleum jelly, Shasa Hu, M.D., dermatologist at the University of Miami Health System, tells SELF.
Cracked or peeling lips: Heartache, worry, dryness in the body, feeling cold. Discoloration or faded colour in the lips: Lack of proper circulation throughout the body. Hot/burning/red lips: Inflammation or too much heat within the body due to overly spicy foods, too much sugar, alcohol or caffeine.
Lip cancer often looks like a mouth sore that won't heal. In people with light skin, this sore may appear reddish. In people with darker skin, it may appear dark brown or gray. Lip cancer can look different for everyone, so if you notice something strange, you should call your healthcare provider for an appointment.
Drink plenty of water and use a humidifier in your home to provide your lips with the moisture they need. Try a home remedy, like applying honey to your lips to soothe, heal, and moisturize them. Don't lick or pick at your lips.
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.
At night, apply a thick layer of a super-restorative healing ointment like Aquaphor, which will go to work on dry, chapped lips while you sleep. In the morning, you'll wake up with lips that already look fuller (and softer).
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 ).
What does it look like? Solar cheilitis predominantly affects the lower lip because it tends to be more prominent. The homogenous pink color of the healthy lip (Figure A) is replaced with non-homogenous white/gray, pink, red, or brown areas and the normally sharp vermillion/skin border becomes less distinct (Figure B).
Does Burt's Bees lip balm dry out lips? From my experience, no, Burt's Bees lip balm does not dry out lips. It's designed to keep the moisture in and prevent moisturise loss. It contains several moisturising ingredients that make skin smoother and several ingredients help to relieve any dryness.
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.
But repeatedly applying lip balms and products may not help your case. Lip balms provide only temporary comfort, and some types can make scaly lips even drier. That's because, in part, when the thin film of moisture from the lip balm evaporates, it dehydrates your lips even more. "It starts a vicious cycle," Dr.
If you have chapped lips or dry skin around lips, use Aquaphor Healing Ointment® as your dry lips treatment to relieve dryness and soothe dry cracked lips. It also adds a little extra shine.
Health Conditions That Can Cause Chapped Lips
Chapped lips can also be associated with a variety of underlying medical conditions, including thyroid disease, vitamin deficiencies, and inflammatory bowel disease, says Zeichner.
According to the American Cancer Society, a red patch on your lip that becomes crusty, itchy, or bleeds is a warning sign. Lumps or wart-like growths on the lips are also skin irregularities that can be signs of melanoma.
Cheilitis means “inflamed lips.” Actinic cheilitis is a form of actinic keratosis, which are precancerous macules or papules that may occur anywhere on the body. Being precancerous, actinic keratosis can eventually turn into squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), a type of skin cancer.