Is the reason for chapped lips only dry lips? We will see that in a few minutes. But very dry lips are called chapped lips. Lips can be dry for several reasons like habit, weather, and lip care habit. Chapped lips are very common and most people ignore them. Some can’t even seat tight if the lips are dry. That’s me!
Causes of Chapped lips
Several reasons can cause chapped lips. our lips become dry before other parts of our body because the skin layer is very thin. And that is why it needs 24*7 hydration.
Weather. Temperature and humidity. If it’s cold weather generally it’s also low humidity. Because of low humidity lips tend to dry faster than any other area of skin. If it’s very hot, sun exposure and UV rays can fry the lip. If your lip is damaged by sun exposure, that will affect the lower lip more because it faces the sun/upward.
Certain medications can cause dry and chapped lips. Retinoids, Vitamin A, and Chemotherapy cause dryness. Cholesterol-lowering chemicals also cause chapped lips.
Some health conditions like thyroid, Chron’s disease, severe vitamin deficiencies, and allergies, can cause chapped lips.
Malnutrition is another cause of chapped lips. And malnutrition can cause by excessive alcohol consumption. Constipation and headache are normal in malnutrition. Other symptoms are a bloated stomach, weak bones, muscle weakness, etc.
Dehydrated or malnourished people have more reason to have chapped lips. If your mouth is often dry and facing urine problems, or have urine less than normal then you may be dehydrated. Low blood pressure, fever, and rapid breathing are also possible in severe dehydration conditions.
Lip does not have any oil glands. Oil glands are the main reason our skin is not dry. Oil glands produce sebum that keeps our skin moist. Even normal skin will have a controlled amount of oil secretion. But our lip does not have any. So basically lip does not have any body-natural process to keep it moist. Saliva is not one of them. I have seen so many people try to maintain moisture by saliva. This is neither hygienic nor solves the dry lip problem. It stimulates the problem more! You should never lick your lip.
Why should you never Lick your lip?
- Your lip is an outer organ contacting the environment and have dirt, and bacterias on it. If you’re licking it you’re consuming dirt.
- The second is, that saliva dries out very fast. And when it does, it absorbs the remaining hydration from the lip.
Symptoms of Chapped lips
- Dry lips always do not mean it’s chapped. When the lip stays dry for a longer time it becomes visible to the opposite person that your lip is not looking healthy at all. Here are some symptoms you may notice.
- First of all your lips will be dry.
- You will feel uncomfortable because of cracks in your lip.
- If your lip has a deep crack and you pick them up or not, it may bleed.
- Your lip would flake. Your lip may be sore and swell. You may feel a little bit of pain.
- Eating spicy, salty, and citrus fruits can be painful.
Yes. Cheilitis.
Cheilitis is caused by a bacterial infection in the cracked corner of the mouth.
Symptoms of Cheilitis
- Crack in the corner of the mouth or lip.
- Lip will look flush red due to cracking.
- Can be a little painful.
- Lip texture will be very uneven
- in the worse case ulcer may develop.
Cause of Cheilitis
- With the causes of chapped lips excessive saliva may turn the regular chapped lips into Chetilities.
- When the lip cracks due to dryness especially bacteria enter and cause infection. That leads to Chetilities.
