You look all perfect, donning the perfect set of a jumpsuit or a varsity jacket, with the hair perfectly done and stepping out for the perfect date night or a casual day out and then here comes the spoilsport of the day, chapped lips.
Chapped lips are definitely not life-threatening (as you guessed it from the name) but are obviously aggressive enough to ruin your parade for sure. Let’s be practical; dry lips can obviously make people look tired and dull or, even worse, make someone mistake the person for a guy who doesn’t do the self-care routine.
Just like any other complications, here are some basic tips and perhaps hacks to put a full stop to your dry lips crisis. Read more to find out essential tips suggested by our Chandigarh skin specialist to heal chapped lips.
What are chapped lips?
Cheilitis is the medical terminology, and as odd as it sounds, these ‘oddly’ looking lips are mainly caused by contact with an allergen or other underlying medical condition. But is there seriously anything that you need to panic about?
Well, in most cases, the answer is a BIG NO!, but it’s more likely to get to the point of driving you up the wall with dried-out skin and, of course, the bleeding that follows.
What causes Chapped lips?
In most cases, the blame is on personal care. Skipping routine personal care or a poor unhygienic routine can cause your lips to look soulless and dry. But in a few cases, the environmental causes take up the heat, well only this time taking up the heat for an obvious reason.
- Sun tanning
- Exposure to harsh wind
- Cold conditions
- Dry climate
Now, as we bid farewell to environmental causes, let’s take a quick sneak peek into the other reason as well.
Lip licking excessively can make dry lips feel better quickly by coating them with a layer of saliva, but this only makes the chapping worse.
- Drinking and smoking
- Toothpaste irritants the skin
- Vitamin Deficiency
- Dehydration
- Side effects of treatments and medications like chemotherapeutic drugs and retinoids
But here’s the flip side to the coin, lips are naturally dry as they don’t have any natural oil glands like skin to keep them moist most of the time.
5 Tips to get rid of dry lips
A bit of self-care and home remedies can go a long way in concealing dehydrated lips.
1) Coconut Oil
Using natural lubricants and moisturizers, including carrier oils like castor, coconut, and olive oil. Apart from the silky smooth texture and consistency that’s as smooth as butter on a pan, coconut oils are loaded to their brim with a never-ending list of health benefits.
They have advantageous fatty acids that moisturize and treat your lips to make them supple and silky. Dry lips will recover more quickly if you use essential oils like tea tree or grapeseed oil. Additionally, they guard against infections, particularly if your lips have cracked due to dryness.
2) Lip Balm
Now how can simple can this get? Put on lip balm, and this puts you in the fast lane to get rid of the lip issues. Choose a balm made of pure beeswax or one with sunscreen. In order to protect your lips from the elements on dry, sunny, or windy days, apply lip balm.
Additionally, lip balm fills up lip gaps to stop infection. Apply before leaving the house, after consuming food or beverages, or whenever you notice it has faded. If you have a habit of licking your lips, stay away from flavoured lip balms.
Avoid using lip balms that come in pots since each time you dip your finger into the balm; bacteria is created that you may then distribute to your damaged lips.
On a windy day, cover your mouth with a scarf or hood. As it heals, try not to irritate it.
3) Stay Hydrated
Drink water to heal. A really inexpensive take at treating your condition that’s definitely not going to burn a hole in your pocket. Chapped lips are frequently caused by dehydration. Besides drinking water, moisturize your skin. Drinking water can help you recover from minor chapped lips in a few hours.
Drink water before and after exercising, before and after meals, and whenever you feel thirsty. A more severe case will take longer. Winter months are particularly conducive to dehydration.
4) Use Humidifier
Every time you turn on the heating for the season, your home’s dry air might make your chapped lips worse. To add additional moisture to the air, run a humidifier. Place humidifiers in the areas of your home where you spend the most time, such as your living room and bedroom.
In this manner, you can effortlessly add moisture to the air. Adding more moisture to the air and applying the right lip balm before night will work miracles.
5) Aloe Vera
Aloe vera is like that distinctive character in a movie, casting a spell of miraculous remedies and nourishment to the body. From hair to skin, it checks all the boxes.
Aloe vera’s organic, cohesive qualities link flaking skin cells to produce smoother skin. It calms your skin and delicately scrubs away dead skin cells. Additionally, it has cooling and defence mechanisms for the skin. Slice the aloe leaf in half lengthwise, then scoop the gel into a jar.
Put the gel on your lips, then wear it all night. Use the airtight container to store any leftover gel. If you reside in a hot and moderate region, keep it in the refrigerator.
Bottom line
Making this your daily routine is probably going to set you on the right journey to finally make the chapped lips vanish into thin air. Only when these remedies don’t seem to put up a fair fight against the condition should you see a dermatologist for a permanent solution with appropriate lip enhancement treatments.
