Chapped Lips: Here's Why You Have It And How You Can Treat It

Chapped lips are a common skin condition many people face. You get this when your lips feel dry and cracked. If your lips burn, sting, or feel uncomfortable, they're probably chapped. While the common belief is that chapped lips happen only during the winter season but if you don't take special care your lips can get dry, feel sore and scaly any time of the year. This could happen especially if you have a habit of licking or biting your lips or use products that irritate and dry out your lips.

Dr Jaishree Sharad, an expert dermatologist, shares some tips on how to avoid chapped lips or what you should do when you develop this condition. In an Instagram video, she lists the causes and treatments for chapped lips.

Causes:

-- If you are in a region where the weather is extremely cold, your lips can develop cracks without proper care.

-- Some people consistently lick their lips to wet them. This can also cause chapped lips.

-- If you are staying in a room exposed to a heater or air conditioner for long durations, that can also damage your lips.

-- Dehydration. If you are not drinking enough water, your lips will have cracks.

-- Besides, using lipstick or lip gloss that can lead to allergies. For example, menthol-based lip products or capsaicin based lip plumpers can lead to dryness.

-- Smoking is another big reason why people have chapped lips.

-- Medication such as isotretinoin can cause dry lips.

-- Drinking a lot of coffee or tea.

-- And vitamin deficiency.

Treatments:

-- The first thing to do is avoid liking your lips.

-- Drink a good amount of water daily to keep your skin adequately hydrated.

-- Avoid caffeine, that is reduce the amount of tea or coffee you drink every day.

-- Avoid long-lasting lipsticks. Instead, pick a lipstick that has lip gloss in it.

-- Use a lip balm that does not have fragrance, menthol, and capsaicin.

-- You can also apply ghee, butter, bromine on lips to treat chapped lips.

-- Do not scrub or peel your lips. That will only aggravate the problem.

-- Take supplements of vitamin c, vitamin e, omega 3 fatty acids.

If the condition persists even after this, you can opt for skin booster injections.

Here's Dr Sharad's Instagram post: