What causes chapped lips?

Peeling and cracking lips are more common in winter because the air is drier in winter. If you don’t pay attention, your lips will peel and crack. Let’s see how to relieve peeling and cracking lips? What causes chapped lips?

Speaking of peeling and cracking lips, it is very common in winter. Sitting in an air-conditioned room for a long time can also cause peeling and cracking lips. Let’s see what to do about peeling and cracking lips? What causes chapped lips:

What to do if your lips are peeling and cracked

1. Wear a mask

Especially for cyclists, wearing a mask can block the biting cold wind outside. The purpose of wearing a mask is simple: to maintain the temperature and humidity of the lips to prevent dehydration and dryness.

2. Massage your lips frequently

The method of massaging lips is not difficult. Just dip some honey on a cotton pad, apply it on your lips before going to bed every night, and then gently massage with your fingers to help promote blood circulation, so that the lips can get oxygen and increase nutrition, and the lips will become moisturized.

3. Apply honey

If your lips start to feel dry, you can use a clean cotton swab to apply some vegetable oil or honey available in the household on your lips. However, diabetic patients should avoid applying honey. Honey can moisturize and nourish the skin very well, and can also inhibit the growth of bacteria and avoid skin infections.

4. Apply olive oil and milk powder paste before going to bed

Apply olive oil on your lips before going to bed and let it absorb for more than 20 minutes, then wipe it off. You can also mix a small amount of milk powder with water to make a paste, and apply it thickly on your lips to act as a lip mask. Olive oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and vitamins, which can effectively solve problems such as dry skin and itching.

5. Apply eye ointment to moisturize lips

There is a trick to deal with dry lips in autumn and winter: applying eye ointment is better than lip balm. Eye ointment can also be used to prevent dry lips in autumn and winter. Many lip balms sold on the market contain vaseline as their main ingredient. Erythromycin eye ointment also contains a large amount of vaseline, which can have the same effect as lip balm. Moreover, erythromycin can also reduce inflammation and kill bacteria. For those dry, cracked, and bleeding lips, erythromycin is more effective than lip balm and more affordable.

6. Use scissors to trim lip skin

To deal with the raised lip skin, you can use small scissors to carefully cut it off in front of a mirror. Never use your hands or pliers to tear your lips, so as not to tear them and cause pain, bleeding, or even infection. This is what is medically known as the "danger triangle."

7. Ointment and toothpaste are used together

If there are signs of suppuration, apply penicillin or erythromycin ointment to the suppurative area. In addition, there is another good remedy for treating chapped lips, which is toothpaste. Toothpaste treatment is more effective and is more useful for treating more severe chapped lips. Toothpaste generally contains mint or other bactericidal ingredients, which can play a very good role.

8. Don’t let your mouth touch water again

If your lips are starting to chapped, try not to let them come into contact with water. If your lips start to peel, it's best to stop brushing your teeth for a while. It's recommended that you use chewing gum or dental floss instead of brushing your teeth during this period of time while your lips recover.

9. Use lip balm correctly

Lip balm should be used when your lips are healthy. If your lips start to peel, stop using it. Once peeling or bleeding begins, stop using lipstick. At this time, you can apply some edible vegetable oil or honey to keep your lips moist and avoid dryness due to lack of water.

For people with allergies, applying sesame oil or honey to the lips with a cotton swab can also have a good moisturizing effect. Before going out, before applying lipstick and before going to bed, use lip balm containing vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin E oil. Vitamin E has strong antioxidant properties, can prevent cell aging, promote cell synthesis, and has good moisturizing and repair functions; then use soft facial tissue to lightly press the lips to achieve double the effect.

10. Long-term dryness and cracking requires seeing a doctor

In addition, experts also remind that chapped lips are sometimes not only caused by climate, but also many oral and dental diseases can cause chapped lips and cheilitis. Therefore, when hydrating in winter, you should also pay attention to oral hygiene to effectively prevent dry lips. If the chapped and scabby symptoms on the lips do not heal for a long time, you should go to the hospital in time to find out the cause as soon as possible and receive symptomatic treatment.

What causes lip peeling?

1. Licking lips frequently

Many people will subconsciously lick their lips when they feel dry and uncomfortable. However, the more they lick, the drier their lips become, and the more they lick, forming a vicious cycle. The skin around the lips may become rough and thick, or the lips may even swell, forming what is medically known as "tongue licking dermatitis."

2. Use lipstick without quality assurance

Because cheap lipsticks contain a lot of oil that has not been carefully purified and too much wax, some of which are unstable natural oils from animals and plants, which can easily oxidize and emit odor; too much wax will affect the metabolism of the lip skin.

3. Excessive use of permanent lipstick

Non-fading lipsticks contain volatile ingredients, and most of them are oil-free and less moisturizing than other lipsticks, but their non-fading advantage is indeed very attractive. Therefore, before applying lipstick, you should first apply a layer of lip balm as a primer, and then blot with a tissue to absorb some of the oil to avoid melting the lipstick and reducing its color retention ability. Apply lip balm with moisturizing and repairing functions in the morning and evening. The ingredients in toothpaste left on your lips that are good for your teeth may not necessarily be good for your lips. In fact, toothpaste residue on the lips will strip away precious and scarce oils and moisture, causing chapped lips.

This is an introduction to the causes and treatments of peeling and chapped lips. Please protect your lips well.