After our failed attempt at building a snowman in the winter weather I had two children staring back at me with dry, chapped lips! This blog will address the common question of why do so many of us battle with lip licker’s dermatitis and dry chapped lips?
As our lips get dry and cracked from the cold wind and low humidity, our body’s natural instinct is to moisten them. We attempt to remedy the situation by licking our own lips. However, this is counter productive because our saliva contains harsh digestive acids that further eats away at the skin causing the already very thin layer of the lip to form splits and cracks.
Best tips to prevent dried and cracked lips:
- NO LIP LICKING. Break the habit of the lip licking cycle!
- DO NOT scrub, peel or bite off the skin flakes: leads to further bleeding and risk of infections/cold sores.
- KEEP LIPS MOIST. Vaseline and Aquaphor are the most common petrolatum based therapies. Shea butter, oils such as sunflower seed and castor seed can also be nourishing. The point is skin heals better when moisturized.
- DON’T FORGET SPF. Lips are a common target for skin cancer. While lipstick and lip gloss offer minimal protection, we still need to wear a balm with SPF coverage to be safe. La Chele carries the Elta SPF Lip Balm and Turo Lip Balm for men.
Stay warm!
Kind Regards,
Lisa Espinoza MD
