What Causes Chapped Lips?

For some people, winter means a daily battle against cracking, scaling or peeling lips. But what actually causes chapped lips? How can you prevent it?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you’ve probably had chapped lips at some point.

Here’s what’s happening. Your lips are pretty delicate things – this one at the top is your Labium superius oris, and the one at the bottom is your Labium inferius oris. Collectively they form an enormously sensitive, incredibly flexible part of your body.

However, they also have some vulnerabilities. For instance, the skin of your lips is different from the rest of your face – let’s take a closer look.

Here we go – this is your skin!

The outer layer is called the epidermis, and it has a protective covering called the stratum corneum. Underneath your epidermis is another layer of skin, the dermis.

Like the rest of your skin, your lips have all three of these layers -- the difference is that the stratum corneum on your lips is way thinner than it is anywhere else on your body. In fact, it’s part of the reason people’s lips have that alluring red or pink pigment. It comes from underlying blood vessels -- red-colored, blood-filled capillaries close to the thin skin on your lips.

Next, your lips also don't have the oil and sweat glands that protect other parts of your skin. Their only source of moisture is your saliva, and that's why they can easily become dry and chapped.

And that’s usually the culprit here: hydration. We often experience chapped lips in cold weather – not because our lips are allergic to winter or anything, but instead because the outside air tends to be drier, and this also dries out the lips.

And this drying out is the leading cause of chapped lips, also known as common cheilitis. Luckily, there are some pretty simple ways to prevent this.

First, and no matter what the cause of your chapped lips might be… stop licking them! I know, I know it can be a difficult habit to break. But licking your lips can contribute significantly to dry, cracked skin. The saliva evaporates quickly, taking with it any moisture that was already on your lips and leaving them even drier, especially in winter air.

And speaking of amazing segueways, let’s tackle weather-related chapping. If you have very dry air in your house, consider investing in a humidifier.

If you’re outside, then protect your lips with a product that contains beeswax or petrolatum, which will help maintain your lips' hydration. If you plan to be out in the sun for awhile, help prevent dryness by using a sunscreen on your lips as well. A lip balm with SPF in it could help address both of these issues at once -- and, as always, drinking plenty of fluids is a great move for your entire body, not just your lips.

And that’s it. Well, almost. We didn’t talk about the multiple other causes of chapped lips, or lip balm addiction, or whether some of the ingredients in those things actually cause chapped lips – an interesting little conspiracy theory.

SOURCES:

[phillydip]

Shout out to all my chapped lipped people out there.

[bethanyx]

I started licking my lips and then she said "stop licking your lips for godssake"...it was weird y'all

[bland]

Thumb up if your lips are chapped right now

[vitoria_viivii]

Am i the only one who aside from licking my lips also bites some of the skin off?
Its addicting to me ughhh!!
I wanna stop but i do it without noticing :(

[leah-jbjx]

I literally rip the skin of my lips my lips are always bloody

[paris]

sometimes it's so chapped that if one laughs suddenly, then lips start to get blood marks

[madhatter]

*licks them*
STOP LICKING THEM ALREADY
well damn!

[criesinpoor]

Guys! Please read, this is important!
If you already apply a lip balm routinely, use a very moisturizing stuff for your lips and it's still chapped, you might have a fungal in your lips named: *Angular cheilitis.*
This fungus grows in the corner of your mouth because it's humid in there.
You might experience: An extremely chapped lips, or the corner of your lips bleeds, etc (Please Google for more information).

I experienced this fungus too. In the past, my lips is always dries, chapped, and it would bleed.
No matter how lip balm I use, it's still chapped.
My dentist told me that I have angular cheilitis. She prescribed me a 2% ketoconazole cream. After weeks using the cream routinely, the fungus disappeared. I've never experienced a chapped lips again ever since.

[nidhi]

I start bitting them, and it happens subconsciously, by the time i realise, my lips are chapped

[lodozzle]

I always have chapped lips

(I’m screaming bruh I forgot I commented this when I was 13 and now I’m 17 and I still get replies)
Also I still have chapped lips 😻

[mukeshgoyal]

At some point?? I have chapped lips while m watching this

[nsowers]

Hi, I'm Nikki, and I have lip balm addiction.

[ayanarissa]

I used to lick my lips to get them “moisturized” but now I know why everyone told me to stop licking them..🙅🏾‍♀️😂

[quazar]

When I was younger, I would lick my lips all the time and this went on for years. I finally got out of the habit of licking my lips but unfortunately my lips just don't seem to want to heal or go back to normal. I drink a lot of water too so hydration isn't the problem. My lips get chapped, dry, and flaky even though I dont lick them. I do use chapstick and my licks start looking great

[monkiboi]

How many of you licks your lips while watching this video??

[readmeastory]

Remedy:
rub 100% organic coconut oil on them throughout the day
When brushing your teeth, brush your lips too
and lastly, use chapstick and let it sit until it soaks it up.
my lips are smooth now.

[abtha]

My lips are always dry. I drink tons of water so I'm not dehydrated, i don't ever lick my lips, i apply chapstick with spf in it all the time. >. <

[jessicaa]

I have chapped lips right now. It’s cos of this shitty weather 🤦🏻‍♀️

[fuee]

Omg, thank you! I ALWAYS lick my lips when they are a bit dried, and when I watched this video, I learned that saliva will dry up the moisture! No wonder I always have chapped lips.

[AmitKY]

For those with dry lips or chapped lips, I want to share this with you...

After you brush your teeth I find it the easiest to remove the dead skin on top of your lips so with one finger just gently scratch all the dead skin on your lips and it will go without any pain. After you remove all the dead skin, you will have the new skin and its when right away you have to moisturize it. I use Nuxe Reve de Miel Moisturizing Stick. So apply it right away and this will help to keep your lips in great condition and obviously you can reapply throughout the day to keep the good condition. Like this you will minimize or even eliminate dry lips and chapped ones and having dead skin on top of them. :)