My lips are chapped and the more I lick them, the drier they become. The drier they become, the more I want to lick them. What should I do?

Author: Sun Zheng, Chief Physician, Beijing Stomatological Hospital, Capital Medical University

Reviewer: Si Yan, Chief Physician, Peking University School of Stomatology

In autumn and winter, lips often become cracked, peeling, and swollen. At this time, you can't help but lick them with your tongue. As a result, the more you lick, the drier they become, and the drier they become, the more you want to lick them, forming a vicious cycle that will recur and take a long time to heal.

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If your lips are dry, cracked, flaky, and red and swollen, you may have cheilitis, which is a chronic desquamative cheilitis.

In fact, there is another type of cheilitis, called erosive cheilitis. Erosive cheilitis sometimes forms erosions, sometimes small papules or rashes, and itchy feelings. Some children have eczema, and small blisters, peeling, and itching will occur around their lips. They can't help scratching, and erosion and exudation will occur.

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Chronic desquamative cheilitis and erosive cheilitis are two common types of cheilitis, and chronic desquamative cheilitis is more common.

1. Is cheilitis caused by dry weather?

Chronic desquamative cheilitis will show symptoms such as dry lips, swelling, dryness, desquamation, and cracks. This type of cheilitis is very common in clinical practice.

Especially in the dry autumn and winter seasons, lips do not have sebaceous glands and do not secrete oil. When dry, they are particularly prone to peeling. Coupled with the wind and sun, many people have the bad habit of licking their lips and peeling their skin. The more they lick and peel, the drier the skin becomes, forming a vicious cycle. The air in the south is humid, and the incidence of cheilitis is relatively low.

Erosive cheilitis is related to systemic factors, and the cause is very complicated. It may be related to cold stimulation, dry climate, eating spicy food, repeated lip licking, and decreased body resistance.

2. Is there any connection between dry and flaky lips and vitamin deficiency?

It is not currently believed that vitamin deficiencies can cause dry, flaky lips.

Dry and flaky lips are more closely related to environmental factors and bad habits.

It is not very common to see people suffering from vitamin deficiency nowadays. The general public’s nutrition is relatively balanced. As long as you can eat normally, vitamin intake should not be a problem.

3. What to do with dry and flaky lips? Does wet compress work?

For chronic desquamative cheilitis, generally speaking, as long as you correct bad habits, stop licking your lips and tearing your skin, and apply some daily lip balm, you can return to normal without taking any medication.

If these bad habits are not corrected, no medicine will be of any use.

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For more serious cheilitis, such as cracks that have formed, you should use some ointment, and apply antibacterial drugs to the infected area.

Dry and flaky lips can be treated with wet compresses. There are many wet compress methods that can remove dry skin, such as wet compresses with antibacterial drugs, or some traditional Chinese medicines. Wet compress drugs have antibacterial and healing effects.

After the wet compress, gently wipe off the dry skin without pulling or tearing it off, then apply a layer of lip balm and it will gradually return to normal.

In fact, if you don’t lick your lips, they won’t peel. If your lips feel dry, just apply lip balm. Keeping your lips moisturized won’t cause your lips to peel.

Someone asked, can I use salt water compress to treat dry and flaky lips?

It is generally not recommended to use saline for wet compresses. If you are allergic, do not brew saline for wet compresses yourself to prevent excessive salt concentration from irritating and damaging the mucous membrane. If you must use saline for wet compresses, choose medical saline.

4. My lips are dry and flaky, and lip balm doesn’t help. What’s going on?

Generally speaking, as long as you stick to lip balm, it should be effective. Often, some patients lick their lips and peel their skin while applying lip balm, so the effect is not good.

At the same time, we should also pay attention to some systemic factors. Some diseases can cause dry mouth, such as diabetes, which will cause dry lips. We need to lower blood sugar and control it. Patients with hyperthyroidism, Sjögren's syndrome, etc. will also experience dry lips, and the primary disease needs to be treated to improve the symptoms.

Are there any side effects of frequently applying lip balm to dry lips?

Generally, there are no side effects of choosing daily lip balm. People with chronic cheilitis should avoid contact with irritants as much as possible. When choosing lip products, pay attention to preventing allergies, do not change brands frequently, and do not use them too frequently. Use it twice a day, morning and evening. If your lips are very dry, you can use it once more at noon.

If dry and flaky lips still cannot be relieved after adjusting bad habits and doing lip balm, you can go to the hospital to seek help from a doctor. General specialist hospitals have oral mucosa departments that specialize in the treatment of lip diseases.

Cheilitis is a common disease and can be treated by dentists. Lip red is also part of the skin, so dermatologists can also treat chronic cheilitis, and dermatologists have more drugs.