We all love to have soft and supple lips that make us look beautify and feel great. But sometimes though, dry lips are unavoidable. Dry lips can cab feel bad, but cracked chapped lips are even worse. It is a feeling that is very hard to clear off quickly and can be irritating. What really causes dry chapped lips? Whatever the cause it is not something you should worry about. Below we have listed some causes of dry chapped lips and how you can easily treat them
1.Licking Your Lips
A chapped lip is caused by continuous licking of your lips. Licking dry lips make them appear hydrated initially. However, immediately after licking, they become dry again and you lick them again. This becomes a continuous cycle. The moisture from saliva evaporates leaving the lips drier than they were before. After sometime the lips becomes rough, dry and shrunken and chapped. To treat it, avoid licking your lip as much as possible and explore on other ways of how to keep your lips moisturize. Saliva evaporates fast leaving your lips feeling chapped.
2.Dehydration
Lips, unlike other parts of the skin do not contain oil grands. This causes them to become dry and chapped easily. Dry lips is a sign of more extensive body desiccation. If you fail to take in more water, your lips become dry. Engaging in activities like motor boating, exposure to U V rays and skiing can cause more dehydration. To treat this, keep your lips more hydrated. Licking your lips is not a good way of maintaing your lips hydrated. The best way to do this is by working from inside out. Take a lot of water during the day, it will help you keep hydrated and keeps your skin’s moisture level high all the time.
3.Not Protecting Your Lips
Many people usually forget to protect their lips when applying sunscreen. This causes the lips to dry and become chapped up. To protect your lips, learn how to keep your lips moisturized. Use a lip balm with sunblock in it, or just apply a bit of sunblock before leaving the house. Keep your lips moisturized all day long by using beeswax or petroleum to keep them from drying out.
4.Cinnamates And Citrus
Some fruits contain acid that can inflame the lips. Cinnamtes used in gums, candy and toothpaste also irritates the lips. Some skin care products and tomato source also causes irritation to someone who already has chapped lips. To treat this, avoid irritants. Avoid foods, fragrance and skin care products that cause irritation.
5.Allergies
Allergies to nickel and cobalt cause dry and chapped lips. Too much intake of supplement with Vitamin B12 can cause allergy to cobalt. According to the experts, there are also other constituents in toothpaste and lipstick that cause chapped lips. They say that if any of them contains phenyl salicylate or propyl gallate, they can cause chapped lips. Also allergies to some foods or some foods ingredients can lead to light allergy. To treat this, it is advisable to avoid foods or products that contain these constituents and use those that do not contain them.
6.Medical Condition
Some medical condition such as autoimmune condition may make your lips to be reactive to the sun. Other conditions that may cause dehydration of the lips include psoriasis and thyroid disease. Diabetes, angular cheilitis and perleche also causes dehydration in the mouth. To treat this, you are advised to focus on any symptoms that cause dryness or chapped lips and consult with your health specialist to find out the cause.
Mouth Breathing
One of the causes for dry or chapped lips is mouth breathing. Mouth breathing occurs when you have nasal allergies or when you have cold that force you to breathe through the mouth. You may have noticed that your lips feel somewhat chapped when you have a cold. When air continuously passes over your lips, it makes them dry out. This leads to chapped lips. To treat this, ensure your lips are moisturized throughout the day and especially before going to bed. Also consult with your doctor to correct the underlying problem.
Conclusion
Chapped lips can be very painful and irritant and can result to conditions like cheilitis among other conditions. There are some chapped or cracked dry lips that do not go away. This may be due to some medical conditions or other things. It is good to consult with your doctor or health specialist if you experience such a condition.