Chapped lips, also known in the medical community as chelilitis, is when the skin of the lips become inflamed, red, irritated, painful, dry and/or flaky. Sometimes even cracks develop that can bleed and become infected.
Causes of Chapped Lips
Chapped lips have many causes, but the most common cause of chapped lips is exposure to harsh environments and is usually most common in the winter months. Cold and windy exposure to wet lips can instantly cause chapped lips.
Chapped lips are very common in the winter months, but can occur at any time of the year.
Preventing Chapped Lips
To reduce your chances of experiencing irritated, red, painful, inflamed or dry flaky chapped lips, use a lip balm, ointment or lipstick that contains SPF, the level should be at least 15.
SPF should be applied to your lips year round because the UV rays from the sun can also cause a chapping of the lips. If you experience chronic chapped lips, you should consider the following:
- Do you lick your lips a lot?
- Are you skipping applying a lip protectant?
- Does your toothpaste contain guaiazulene or sodium lauryl sulfate?
- Do any of your lip products contain the ingredient phenyl salcycate *salol?
These ingredients are notorious for causing allergic reactions in multiple people and could be the cause of your chronic chapped lips.
