Most of us have had chapped lips at some point, regardless of the season.
While you might be tempted to keep licking your lips or putting lip balm on your lips for short-term relief, these behaviors might worsen the situation.
Chapped lips can easily become dehydrated, inflamed, and tear, but there are ways to prevent and treat dry, irritated lips, to prevent this from happening.
Why Your Lips Are Chapped
Although many individuals link chapped lips to cold weather, there are a variety of other causes for mouth irritation. Lips cannot moisturize themselves like the rest of the face because they lack oil glands (sebaceous glands that produce sebum).
Licking your lips, dehydration, a lack of fluids, and irritation from cosmetics or skin care products can all cause and worsen the lips’ dehydration and leave them chapped. Furthermore, prolonged sun exposure can make the lips feel dry and blister.
How To Know If You Have Chapped Lips
You’ll likely know when your lips are chapped and treatment is necessary, but some common symptoms include:
-Dryness
-Irritation
-Roughness
-Peeling skin
-Mild pain
How To Prevent Chapped Lips
Using lip balm is the most popular strategy to avoid chapped lips, but there are other effective preventative measures.
Don’t lick your lips or use irritating makeup, spend as little time in cool or hot, dry air, and stay out of the sun as much as possible, and when you are out in the sun, make sure to use a lip balm that contains Spf.
Staying hydrated also helps prevent chapped lips. To keep the space moist, you might also try running a cool-water humidifier in your room.
Ingredients To Avoid While Your Lips Are Chapped:
To help chapped lips heal, stop applying lip products that contain any of the following ingredients:
-Fragrance, dyes, and glitters
-Camphor
-Flavorings like: Cinnamon, citrus, mint, and peppermint flavors can be especially irritating to dry, chapped lips
-Eucalyptus
-Octinoxate or oxybenzone
-Menthol
-Lanolin
-Phenol (or phenyl)
-Propyl gallate
-Salicylic acid
How To Heal Chapped Lips
It’s time to be more attentive with your lip care routine if you’ve tried the previous preventive measures and your lips are still feeling chapped.
Apply a barrier repair moisturizer to your lips at night and then coat them with oil, such as Zerafite wrinkle protection or choose argan oil since it has calming fatty acids.
Apply lip products that contain both occlusives and humectants during the day. Water cannot evaporate away from the surface because occlusives cover and shield it. Water is drawn into humectants. Occlusives include oils, waxes, and petrolatum, whereas humectants include glycerin and hyaluronic acid.
Ingredients That Help Heal Your Chapped Lips:
While some ingredients can irritate dry, cracked lips, others can help them heal. When looking for products to use on your chapped lips, dermatologists recommend ones that contain one or more of the following:
-Castor seed oil
-Hyaluronic acid which works as a humectant to attract water and hydration
-Ceramides which are lipids that form the building blocks of the skin barrier
-Dimethicone
-Hemp seed oil
-Mineral oil
-Petrolatum
-Shea butter
-Sun-protective ingredients, such as titanium oxide or zinc oxide
-White petroleum jelly
It also helps to use products that are fragrance-free and hypoallergenic.
When To See A Dermatologist?
Beyond harsh heat and dehydration, there may be another factor contributing to your chapped lips.
After a week or two, if chapped lips still don’t improve with these types of at-home treatments, it is recommended to contact a dermatologist to rule out anything more dangerous, like early precancerous lesions.
It is best to contact a dermatologist in either situation if you have substantial sensitivity or pain because some topical medicines can aid in accelerating healing.
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