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What You Need To Know About Chapped Lips
Health Conditions That Can Cause Chapped LipsDry, chapped lips can also be associated with a variety of underlying medical conditions, including thyroid disease, vitamin deficiencies, and inflammatory bowel disease, says Zeichner. Low thyroid function may cause dryness of the mouth and lips, and B complex vitamin deficiencies or low zinc or iron levels have been reported to cause chapped lips, he adds. Crohn's disease can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract from the lips down to the anus, and if you have severely cracked lips that are not healing along with belly pain, this may be a rare cause.
Angular cheilitis, or inflammation in the corners of the mouth, is another common condition that can cause dry or chapped lips. It's typically caused by cold weather, yeast overgrowth, or irritation from saliva, and it's usually treated with anti-yeast medication, anti-inflammatories, or skin protectants overnight, says Rebecca Baxt, MD, a dermatologist in Paramus, New Jersey.
Actinic cheilitis is the term given to chronic chapped lips that develop as a result of sun damage, explains Zeichner. This is a precancerous condition that typically affects the lower lip (which faces upward toward the sun, so is at risk for sudden damage). If you have dry, chapped lips that aren't getting better and you're concerned, see a dermatologist, advises the Cleveland Clinic: Your clinician can identify additional tests that can help determine if your dry lips are linked to one of these less common causes.
How to Treat Chapped Lips: Start With Lip BalmDry, chapped lips can sometimes heal on their own, but if that isn't happening after a day or two, try using a lip balm, suggests Zeichner. Lip balms contain a combination of waxes and oils that form a protective seal over the skin, he explains. Your best choice is a basic lip balm with either a petroleum jelly or paraffin base that can keep moisture in your lips, protect them from the elements, and give them time to heal. Zeichner recommends Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm with SPF 20. Vaseline is another dermatologist favorite. Dr. Cockerell advises choosing a formula with built-in sunscreen (look for an SPF number in the product name) and applying it frequently throughout the day.
Stay away from products that contain fragrance, camphor, menthol, and salicylic acid, because these ingredients can cause irritation of the skin, leading to disruption of the skin barrier and loss of hydration, which can make chapped lips worse, warns Zeichner. You also want to avoid exfoliating lips that are already dry and irritated because that can lead to more harm than good, he explains.
If lip balms are not helping, visit your dermatologist. You can also try 1-percent hydrocortisone to treat chapped lips if they are not improving on their own after a few days of using lip balm, says Zeichner.
If you're looking for a natural home remedy for chapped lips, Zeichner suggests trying coconut oil because it spreads easily without dripping. "The same types of products you use for dry skin can often be used for the lips," he explains.
What to Do When Your Child Has Chapped LipsKids are at risk for getting a superficial skin infection called impetigo, especially if they get open or cracked skin, and it can easily be spread to others, says Zeichner. He recommends touching base with your pediatrician if your child has chapped lips that don't go away in a day or two.
How to Prevent Chapped Lips: 3 Simple StrategiesHere are three simple ways to prevent chapped lips and keep your lips smooth and hydrated, according to Zeichner:
Additional reporting by Jennifer D'Angelo Friedman.
What's The Best Cure For Impetigo?
Impetigo is a skin infection caused by a bacterium; the staphylococcus as in your son's case or the streptococcus are the main culprits. It usually starts as small blisters, anywhere on the body but often on the face, which join up forming bigger areas of pus under the skin. The skin often peels off leaving sore, red, raw patches which dry with bright yellow crusts. These heal from the centre and may leave red rings of skin around the edge as they do so.
Impetigo is very itchy and highly contagious. This is why it can whip through nurseries, playgroups and families; anywhere that individuals are in close contact hence young children are more at risk. To reduce the spread the affected child has to stay at home but as with your son this can be prolonged.
Treatment nearly always requires antibiotic cream (eg fucidin) or in established or recurrent cases such as your son's, antibiotics by mouth for up to ten days. You do not say if he has had antibiotics but I presume that if he has grown staphylococcus from swabs your GP will have prescribed these.
Sometimes impetigo can be recurrent ¿ there are several reasons. The commonest is that the infection has not completely cleared and a longer course of antibiotics by mouth will be needed, usually a swab is sent first to make sure that the antibiotic will be effective against the particular bacterium involved.
Sometimes the child himself or another member of his family may continue to carry the bacterium in his nose but if he scratches his nose and rubs his sores he will keep re-infecting healing patches of skin. The nose is usually unaffected and the only way to detect the bacterium is to take swabs from the whole families' noses (including your son) and send them to the lab for analysis. If anyone is carrying the bug your son and all immediate family should apply to their inner nostrils a cream specifically aimed at eradicating it such as Naseptin (which your GP can prescribe). After treatment for a week or more the carrier's nose needs to be re-swabbed to make sure the infection has gone.
In your son's case part of the problem may be the betnovate ointment you are using to 'control' the outbreaks. This ointment is a powerful steroid; it calms down the redness in the skin patches so the impetigo will appear to be improving, but it suppresses his own immunity in fighting off the skin infection making it more likely that he will continue to carry the bacterium and so re-infect himself.
I would suggest you throw the betnovate away and, if your son has already had a course of antibiotics by mouth, ask your GP to consider taking swabs from his and all the family's noses.
Olivia Culpo Gets Lip Fillers Dissolved Before Her Wedding, Shows Before And After
Olivia Culpo's gearing up for her wedding to Christian McCaffrey, and she's doing a lot of beauty prep—including salmon sperm facials (casual) and dissolving her lip filler.
During a Q&A with fans about what skincare / injectables she's doing before her wedding, Olivia wrote (via Entertainment Tonight) "I had my lips dissolved last week. Look at my before! I'm really happy the way they look now. Debating filling again but might just keep like this for the wedding."
She also shared a photo of herself post-dissolve, along with one of herself with lip filler:
Olivia recently opened up on TikTok about the cosmetic procedures she's had done, saying "Everybody's always interested in talking about, 'What fillers did you do, what botox did you do?' All these things, blah blah blah. I, for the record, have never had plastic surgery. I don't judge anybody that has."
Olivia went on to say that people assume she's had buccal fat removal "because my face is more sunken in now than it was 10, 12 years ago," and added "I'll tell you guys exactly what I do."
Turns out she uses botox on a few places in her face (but not her forehead), fills her lips (which she's obviously since had removed!) and revealed that she used to get filler in her jaw to slim it, but no longer does that due to wanting to "embrace my natural structure."
She also added that cheek fillers are a no for her (though she's had them in the past). So that's that!
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