My lips are very chapped, what should I do? Lips are cracking. Baby cream - a panacea for cracks and dryness

Increased dry skin always brings discomfort and inconvenience to a person. If your lips are peeling, you can solve such skin problems for a short period of time with the help of hygienic lipstick, balm or gloss. But such cosmetics help overcome peeling lips only temporarily. It will not solve the reason why your lips peel. Therefore, if your lips peel and crack, it is necessary to find out the provoking factors of this phenomenon and eliminate them. At the same time, you can also use products for external treatment of this area to remove peeling and redness.

There can be many reasons why lips peel and crack. There are several reasons why lips become dry and flaky:

  1. Frequent temperature changes, unfavorable climatic conditions. The skin in this area is very delicate and sensitive; there are no sebaceous glands on its surface. With prolonged exposure to frost, strong winds, or ultraviolet rays, redness and peeling are inevitable.
  2. Dryness and peeling of lips can occur due to increased histamine production due to an allergic reaction. Allergies to cosmetics and toothpastes often occur (children often suffer from this). If the toothpaste is not selected correctly, the overly aggressive components of this product cause inflammation and allergies.
  3. In women, lips crack and peel under the influence of harmful dyes that are present in the composition. decorative cosmetics. Such substances dry it out very much and cause unpleasant symptoms.
  4. Dryness around and on the lips is a common sign of weakness. immune system. This is one of the most common reasons why a child’s lips become too dry, flaky and cracked.
  5. Peeling of the skin around the lips can be caused by a deficiency of vitamins. If there is not enough vitamin A, the skin in the corners of the lips begins to crack, this is accompanied by unpleasant symptoms. A lack of vitamin C causes peeling under the corners of the lips. Also, flaky corners of the mouth can be caused by vitamin E deficiency.
  6. If the skin of the lips is excessively dry, the reasons may lie in dehydration of the body if a person consumes too little clean drinking water.
  7. With a cold or nasal congestion, a person is forced to constantly breathe through the mouth, this causes peeling in the corners and on the entire surface of the skin.
  8. Dry air in the room is the answer to the question of why the skin peels when you are in the house.
  9. Frequently eating too hot food or drinks also causes the skin to peel off.
  10. Excessively frequent stress and intense emotional stress. This problem especially often arises among representatives of the fair half of the population, since they are more susceptible to unstable emotional manifestations.
  11. When the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood fluid decreases, this problem can also appear.
  12. Unpleasant symptoms are caused by the negative habit of frequently licking the skin. Especially in windy weather, frost or strong sun. One more negative habit is constant biting of this area. As a result, the epidermis is injured, and pathogenic microorganisms easily penetrate microcracks, causing inflammation and infection. Frequently touching your face with your hands can also trigger the development of infection.
  13. Allergic reactions to food, consumption of overly spicy, salty and sour foods.

Also, intense discomfort in this area can be caused by various organ diseases digestive system– peptic ulcer, pancreatitis, gastritis, intestinal dysbiosis. In diseases of the endocrine system and fungal infections, such a symptom is not uncommon. Herpes is also accompanied by such manifestations. If spots with a whitish coating appear, this is an alarming signal of disturbances in the functioning of the pancreas. It is recommended to consult a doctor and get tested.

After doctors make the correct diagnosis and determine the causes of unpleasant symptoms, competent treatment is prescribed using correctly selected means. You also need to take extra care of your skin. This will help heal faster pathological process, exfoliate the top layer, which has already begun to peel off.

How to deal with the problem

When persistent flaking patches of skin appear, both basic care and treatment are important. How to get rid of peeling lips and remove excessive dryness? The following measures will help with this problem. Applying masks at home. Effective recipes masks:

  • sour cream To make it, you will need fat sour cream - 1 tablespoon. Add a few drops to it lemon juice and a couple of drops of corn, olive or flaxseed oil. Mix all the ingredients and apply to the skin for half an hour, making sure to lubricate the exfoliated corners of the lips. After half an hour, wash off the sour cream with warm water;
  • is effective honey mask for lips against peeling and cracks. With its help, they will quickly peel off and recover. Natural honey is applied to the lips for half an hour. These simple remedies can cure the problem;
  • An oil mask based on cocoa butter contains a large amount of beneficial substances. This substance is used to lubricate the lips and the area of ​​the corners of the lips. Can be used several times a day. After the procedure, the skin is very well restored and moisturized.

The listed mask recipes are very simple, but at the same time they effectively moisturize, exfoliate, and saturate the skin with useful ingredients, vitamins and minerals.

Others effective means To combat the problem are oils: almond, grape seed oil, sea buckthorn and wheat oil. To enhance the effect of treatment, mix them with natural vitamins A or E. Lubricate the epidermis until completely absorbed. Among the abundance of creams and balms, the simplest baby cream is effective. This cream is applied before going outside, instead of hygienic lipstick. It nourishes the skin and eliminates unpleasant symptoms.

You can make your own homemade balm. It will help restore healthy lips. To prepare such a product, you need to take the following components in equal proportions: beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter, olive or corn oil, cocoa powder. Melt the wax and cocoa butter in a water bath. Add the remaining substances and pour into a convenient container. Such natural cosmetic is very effective. This balm can be used by children before going outside to prevent dryness and cracking.

Use of pharmaceuticals

If pieces of the epithelium constantly peel off near the lips, on their surface, hurt, cause discomfort, if home remedies are not enough, you can use pharmaceutical products:

  • calendula oil: has a healing and anti-inflammatory effect;
  • cocoa butter: eliminates cracks, flaking, itching, dryness. It is included in the food category, therefore absolutely harmless;
  • St. John's wort oil: softens, promotes regeneration;
  • aloe juice: used to get rid of cracks.

Additionally, the doctor may prescribe a course of multivitamin complexes. Treatment is carried out depending on the diagnosis.

Preventive measures

To ensure the health of the delicate skin around your mouth, you need to take care of it using the following method. Every time before you go outside, be sure to use lipstick for protection, it is better if they are greasy. Make yourself some natural balms and care creams. By increasing the amount of nutrients in cosmetic products, your skin will be much healthier.

Be sure to exfoliate and scrub your lips once a week. For this, you can purchase ready-made peeling rolls that exfoliate the upper keratinized layer of the epidermis and stimulate the division of new cells. Or you can make your own peeling agent using coffee grounds, ground apricot or grape seeds.

It is recommended to periodically carry out a light massage using a soft toothbrush. Additionally, massage is applied fatty oil. It is very important to include a large amount of vitamin products in your daily menu. If there is a lack of vitamins and minerals, take a course of vitamin therapy.

It is very important to drink as much clean drinking water as possible to restore water balance in organism. Ideally drink at least one and a half liters.

Rules of care

In order to ensure maximum protection of sponges from the negative effects of exogenous factors, it is important to properly care for this sensitive area. Be sure to exfoliate your lips once a week. You can use store-bought cosmetics, or you can prepare them yourself: to do this, take a handful of semolina, mix with oatmeal, and dilute with boiling water. It should be a thick paste. Gently massage your lips with it. You can do this not with your hands, but with a toothbrush. You can also make a scrub based on cosmetic clay, rice flour, heavy cream and granulated sugar. Take all components in equal quantities. Also massage gently.

To perform peeling, you will need a fine abrasive substance - semolina or crushed apricot kernels.

Make honey, curd and fruit masks as often as possible. It will be useful to lubricate with herbal decoctions (chamomile, calendula, nettle, St. John's wort). They will promote healing, restoration of epidermal cells, relieve inflammation, irritation, and redness.

Be sure to cleanse your skin of dirt and makeup every day. Don't go to bed without first cleansing your face. Any makeup remover lotion or micellar water will be suitable for these purposes. You can also use self-prepared decoctions of chamomile, St. John's wort or nettle. Lubricate at night sea ​​buckthorn oil, which will saturate with vitamins.

With the help of properly formulated treatment, prevention and basic care for the skin of the lips, you can restore smoothness, beauty and health to it.

The lips have very sensitive and delicate skin that reacts sharply to various irritants: aggressive weather conditions, vitamin deficiency, mechanical damage, lack of moisture, etc. These and other factors can cause the lips to begin to peel, microcracks and even deep cracks with minor bleeding to form.

Photo 1: If cracked lips are left unattended, the risk of penetration of pathogenic microorganisms increases, which can result in infection. Source: flickr (Polly Anne).

Why do lips crack?

Note! The skin on the lips can also crack due to various systemic diseases. Therefore, it is extremely important to identify the root cause of the disease in order to eliminate it in time, thereby preventing the occurrence of undesirable consequences.

Below we will look at the main reasons why the pathology in question may develop, and also focus on the main methods of treating this pathology.

Dry lips

In medicine, lip diseases are called cheilitis. The main symptom of redness, peeling and cracking is dryness.

Lips can dry out and crack if a person spends a long time in a room where the air is too dry and warm, after walking in frosty and windy weather, or as a result of sunburn.

However, often dry lips can also be a sign of serious illnesses:

  • pathologies of the digestive system;
  • frequent stressful situations and depression, leading to an imbalance of various body systems;
  • avitaminosis;
  • dehydration of the body;
  • kidney pathologies;
  • anemia;
  • diabetic disease;
  • malfunction of the thyroid gland;
  • predisposition to allergies.

Excessive dryness, leading to the appearance of cracks, can also occur due to poor nutrition (too spicy or salty foods, eating large quantity caffeine-containing products, etc.), availability bad habits(smoking, alcohol and drug addiction), taking certain medications.

Lips crack severely, until they bleed

In some cases, a person faces a problem when cracks do not heal for a long time, and the wounds may even bleed. Such a symptom may be a signal that the patient suffers from a lack or poor absorption of certain vitamins and microelements by the body.

So, for example, a deficiency of vitamins A causes sagging skin (also on the lips), loss of their elasticity and firmness. If there is not enough vitamin E, the water balance in the skin is disrupted - the lips become rough, may crack at the corners and bleed slightly. It is very important that the body receives sufficient amounts of B vitamins, which take part in metabolic processes occurring in the skin, as well as vitamin C, which is responsible for healthy appearance skin.

Lips can also crack until they bleed as a result of the progression of the herpes virus. Blisters, which subsequently burst and turn into wounds (sometimes bleeding), can appear on the lips, as well as on any part of the body and even on internal organs.


Photo 2: Nine out of ten people have the herpes virus. Once it gets into the body (which can happen even at birth), it never goes away. Herpes makes itself felt whenever the immune system weakens. Source: flickr (PLGSTD07).

What to do for chapped lips

Note! If there are deep bleeding cracks, with purulent discharge or recurrent ones, you should immediately consult a doctor to find out what exactly triggered this pathology. For this purpose, a special examination is carried out - an analysis is taken from the affected area, the pathogen and its sensitivity to antibiotics are determined, and appropriate therapy is selected.

If cracks are formed as a result of fungal infection, special antifungal ointments are prescribed.

Along with the main medications, the specialist prescribes a vitamin complex (primarily vitamins C, A, B, as well as zinc and iron) to strengthen and improve the functioning of the immune system.

If you are prone to cracks, nutritionists recommend including the following foods in your diet:

  • sufficient quantities of greens;
  • vegetable oil (preferably olive) unrefined;
  • oatmeal;
  • orange and red vegetables and fruits;
  • hard cheeses;
  • fish products (except canned food);
  • meat;
  • malt.

To prevent chapped lips, you should avoid sweets and simple carbohydrates, which contribute to the growth of fungi.

If you are prone to cheilitis, it is imperative to choose a high-quality moisturizing cosmetic product.

If cracks occur - allergic reaction, then it is necessary to eliminate all possible allergic agents (most often these are decorative cosmetics).

Chapped lips - treat with homeopathy

Homeopathy is a very effective treatment for dry and chapped lips. good because they are not addictive and side effects, in comparison, for example, with antibiotics.

Experts recommend first being examined by an experienced homeopath, who will identify the root cause of the disease and prescribe complex therapy. Homeopathic medicines are prescribed individually for each patient, despite the similarity of symptoms for a particular disease.

This is explained by the fact that the theory of homeopathy is aimed specifically at healing the entire body, at eliminating the cause of pathology, and not just its manifestations.

For dry lips and cracking, the following remedies are prescribed:

  1. (Arsenicum album)– prescribed for the herpes virus, accompanied by red ulcers, severe burning, relieved by warm compresses;
  2. Actaea racemosa– helps with dryness, cracking of the lower lip;
  3. Actaea spicataexcellent remedy from cracks;
  4. Ailanthus– swelling and dryness with a gray coating at elevated body temperature;
  5. (Apis)– lips are swollen and painful;
  6. (Aloe)– dryness, cracking, redness;
  7. Arum triphyllum– prescribed for bleeding cracks;
  8. Baryta sulphurica– helps against cracks and excessive dryness;

And do they peel? There are many answers to the question posed. After all, the cause of such trouble can be anything. In this regard, we decided to devote this article to this particular cosmetic bag problem. We will tell you not only about why lips dry and peel, but also how to protect yourself from this unpleasant phenomenon.

general information

Most people know the inconvenience and discomfort that dry lips can cause. Moreover, such a nuisance noticeably spoils a person’s appearance. In this regard, such a problem should definitely be dealt with.

As a rule, lips dry and peel not only in adults, but also in children. This can happen in different times year, and also in different weather. To get rid of this problem, you must first determine its true cause. Let's look at the most likely of them in more detail.

Lips dry and peel: reasons

There are many reasons for dry and cracked lips. To determine why exactly you are facing this problem, we will talk about each of them right now. However, it should be noted that the cause of this problem cannot always be determined independently. In this case, we recommend contacting a dermatologist.

Sudden temperature changes

In 90% of 100, the answer to the question of why lips dry and peel is sudden temperature changes, as well as certain weather conditions. This fact is due to the fact that the skin on this part of the face is very thin and sensitive. Moreover, there are practically no sebaceous glands on it. That is why it is quite susceptible to external influences. As a rule, lips dry out and peel in those who like to stay in the hot sun for a long time or lick them in severe frost.

Allergic reactions

Dryness is often encountered by those who choose the wrong products for themselves. toothpaste. After all, it is these hygiene products that contain potent active substances that harm the most delicate skin, causing it to become dry and subsequently develop cracks.

If the reason lies precisely in this, then it is quite difficult to guess about it without outside help, since most people would not even think that toothpaste could cause this problem. By the way, most often the hygiene product causes cracks on the lips and their dryness in children than in adults.

Using lipsticks

As a rule, lipstick contains a lot of harmful dyes, which greatly dry out the skin of the lips. In most cases, women have no idea that the cause of this problem is their cosmetic product. This creates a vicious circle. Representatives of the fair sex with dry lips try with all their might to hide their defect using the same lipstick that causes dryness.

Other reasons

For what other reasons do lips dry and peel (a photo of the problem is presented in this article)? This problem is most often encountered by people with reduced immunity. To increase it, as well as restore the skin on the lips, it is recommended to take a complex of vitamins (A, E, C).

Also, the cause of the mentioned problem can be difficulty breathing through the nose due to regular runny nose. With this disease, a person begins to breathe through his mouth, which is why his lips constantly dry out and peel.

Lips dry and peel: what to do?

Above we told you about why they can peel off and If you are faced with this problem, we recommend using the tips below to treat damaged tissues:


What can't you do?

If your lips regularly peel, then it is highly not recommended to rip off the exfoliated skin from them, as well as regularly pour them. In addition, you should forget about using any lipsticks (except hygienic and balms) for a while. Also, to prevent peeling of the skin of the lips, it is imperative to remove all makeup from the face if there is no need for it at this time.

There can be many reasons why lips peel and crack. However, the most common of them is vitamin deficiency (spring or autumn).

Drink vitamins

During these periods, the human body lacks vitamins, which can appear not only on the lips, but also on the hands. In principle, this problem is quite easy to solve: you need to purchase a mineral-vitamin complex at the pharmacy, and also, if possible, include natural juices, cereals, fruits and nuts in your diet. The skin on the lips will stop peeling as soon as the body’s supply of essential vitamins is replenished.

Lubricate your lips with oil

Cosmetologists unanimously speak about the beneficial effects of this or that oil on human skin: the fact is that oils nourish the skin, restoring it. Therefore, people with flaky lips are advised to apply their usual olive oil. For the best effect, you can use argan or jojoba oil. You can purchase them in specialized stores or pharmacies. To speed up the healing process of cracked lips, cosmetologists recommend lubricating them with tea tree oil: its unique properties can work wonders.

Get a massage

One way to speed up the healing of cracked lips is to massage them once a week with a soft toothbrush dipped in oil or water. Massage helps increase blood flow to the skin and removes dead skin from the epidermis (upper layer of skin).

Special scrubs designed to cleanse the face and lips operate on the same principle. For example, a scrub made from sugar and olive oil perfectly cleanses and nourishes lips.

To learn how to add volume to your lips, watch the episode of the “Beauty Jury” program:

Make lotions from tea

In the fight against cracked and flaky lips, ordinary green tea. The fact is that it has unique antioxidant properties. You just need to brew bagged green tea (pour boiling water over it), then let the bag cool a little and apply it to your lips.

Drink more fluids

The cause of peeling lips can also be general dehydration of the body. In this case, doctors advise drinking as much regular liquid (water) as possible and as little alcohol and coffee as possible.

Find out the reason from your doctor

Often, peeling lips can be the result of an allergy to something. In this case, it is recommended to purchase corticosteroid ointment at the pharmacy. It is intended to be applied to lips throughout the day. If this remedy does not bring desired result, you will need to urgently seek the help of a specialist.

In general, peeling and cracks on the lips may indicate various diseases. internal organs, so it is recommended not to delay your visit to the doctor.