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The Doctors Book of Home Remedies II: Chapped Lips

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Chapped Lips

As if squeezing down chimney after chimney with a 46-inch waist isn't impressive enough, what's truly amazing about Santa is how he manages to grin merrily all winter long. After all, when the rest of us try to crack a smile during the Yule season, we literally crack a smile--courtesy of chapped lips.

Unlike your skin, lips lack the natural oils needed to protect against drying winter winds and the low humidity of indoor heating. And lips are easily burned by the sun's rays (which do double damage when reflecting off snow) because they contain no melanin, the pigment in the rest of the skin that causes freckles and suntan. But here's how to give the kiss-off to chapped lips and smile without wincing through those dry winter months.

When to See the Doctor

If your chapped lips do not respond to treatment, they should be evaluated by a dermatologist. Persistent chapping may indicate chronic overexposure to sunlight and could be a sign of premalignant or malignant activity, says Nelson Lee Novick, M.D., associate clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. A biopsy of the lips may be necessary.

Cracking at the corners of the mouth that does not heal may indicate a yeast or bacterial infection. Such cracking can spread to the lips or cheeks and should be treated by a dermatologist to prevent serious complications.

Forgot Your Lip Balm? Try This Treatment!

Credit it to our nose for news, but here's one of the more unusual and effective remedies we sniffed out. When you don't have lip balm, try this.

"Put your finger on the side of your nose and then rub your finger around your lips," suggests dermatologist Joseph Bark, M.D., past chairman of the Department of Dermatology at St. Joseph's Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. When your finger rubs your nose, he points out, "it picks up a little of the oil that's naturally there, and it's the kind of oil the lips are looking for anyway."

Don't lick the problem. Since chapped lips are dry lips, the obvious answer is to simply lick your lips to keep them moist, right?

Wrong: "This is one of the very worst things people can do," says Ronald Sherman, M.D., a dermatologist and member of the attending staff at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. "It only increases chapping. When the moisture from licking your lips evaporates, so does some of the moisture from your lips." Another problem is that lip lickers tend to also be lip biters, and biting your lips removes the protective layer of skin.

Water your dry cells. Drinking additional fluids in the winter is a natural and easy way to keep your lips from chapping. "I recommend several ounces of water every few hours," says Diana Bihova, M.D., clinical assistant professor of dermatology at New York University Medical Center in New York City. "As you age, the ability of your cells to retain moisture decreases, so your dryness problem may actually increase each winter. Another way to help counter wintertime dry lips is to humidify the air in your home and office."

Be wise to vitamin B. "Nutritional deficiencies--such as the lack of B-complex vitamins and iron-can play a part in scaling of the lips and cracking at the comers of the mouth," says Nelson Lee Novick, M.D., associate clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "So make sure you're okay on that front with a multivitamin/mineral supplement."

Apply lip balm frequently. "You should apply lip balm every hour or two-both to prevent chapped lips and to treat them once you get them," says John F. Romano, M.D., a dermatologist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York City.

Using petroleum jelly is fine, but if you go with a commercial product specifically made for chapped lips, "make sure you use one that contains sunscreen with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 15," adds Nicholas J. Lowe, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine and director of the Skin Research Foundation of California in Santa Monica.

Give toothpaste the brush-off. "Allergy and sensitivity to flavoring agents in toothpaste, candy, chewing gum and mouthwash can cause chapped lips in some people," says Thomas Goodman, Jr., M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences in Memphis. "Cinnamon-flavored products and some tartar control toothpastes can be especially irritating. I tell my patients to avoid them."

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