How to treat chapped lips

Why do lips get chapped?

Lips have thinner, more sensitive skin than the rest of your body and no oil glands. Cold or dry weather, wind, sun exposure and dehydration can leave them tight, flaky or cracked. Chapping can happen in any season. Cheilitis means inflammation of the lips, not one single cause: allergies, eczema and reactions to medicines such as retinoids can also be involved.2

How to care for chapped lips each day

1. 1Wash your hands before applying balm, especially when using a pot.
2. 2Apply a gentle balm or ointment when you wake up. Reapply whenever your lips feel dry and after eating or drinking.
3. 3Before going outdoors, apply lip balm with SPF 30 or higher. Reapply every 2 hours while outside, including in winter.
4. 4Cover your lips with a scarf in cold, windy weather.
5. 5Before bed, apply balm or ointment again. A thick ointment is useful for very dry, cracked lips.

Lip balm creates a protective seal that limits moisture loss. Ointment based products containing petrolatum, glycerin or mineral oil can help maintain moisture and heal cracks. Keep a balm near your bed and another where you can reach it during the day, because a balm stored elsewhere is mostly a storage solution.4

What is the best way to treat chapped lips?

Start with a simple petroleum based product rather than a scented or flavored balm. Plain white petroleum jelly is a practical choice for very dry lips because ointment seals in water longer than waxes or oils. For daytime sun protection, choose SPF 30 or higher with zinc oxide or titanium oxide. A balm can be glossy, tinted or medicated.15

• Helpful ingredients include petrolatum, mineral oil, castor seed oil, ceramides, dimethicone and shea butter.
• While lips are chapped, avoid camphor, eucalyptus, menthol, fragrance, lanolin, phenol, propyl gallate and salicylic acid.
• Skip cinnamon, citrus, mint and peppermint flavorings, and lip products containing octinoxate or oxybenzone.
• Choose fragrance free, hypoallergenic products, but stop using any product that burns, stings, tingles or feels uncomfortable.

Burning or tingling means irritation, not that the balm is working harder. Scents, flavorings and artificial colors can irritate lips or cause allergies. If one balm makes matters worse, stop using it and try a simpler formula. Lip balm does not make your body stop producing natural moisture, and it is not physiologically addictive. Repeated application can become a habit, though, so distinguish genuine dryness from applying it automatically.15

Should you scrub or peel chapped lips?

Skip lip scrubs, polishes and manual exfoliation while your lips heal. Scrubs strip away the protective outer layer, so a product sold for smoothness can leave you with more dryness to manage. Let flakes come away on their own: peeling skin protects the new skin underneath. Pulling or biting it off can cause irritation, dryness and infection.5

Licking gives brief wetness but makes lips drier afterward. Saliva also contains digestive enzymes that can irritate lip skin. Use balm rather than trying to smooth peeling skin with your teeth or fingers; picking can create cracks and sores.4

What else helps lips heal?

Drink enough water to avoid dehydration. Dry air increases moisture loss from your lips, so running a humidifier at home can help. A bedroom humidifier is especially useful if you breathe through your mouth at night. Avoid holding metal objects such as paperclips or jewelry between your lips, and do not share lip balm with other people because sharing can spread germs.134

How do you treat severely chapped lips?

Use a thick, gentle lip ointment regularly to protect painful cracks. Cracks can split into cuts and bleed; an ointment intended for lips can help with home care. Citrus fruit and spicy or salty foods can sting severely chapped lips, so avoid them if eating hurts. Frequent bleeding that does not respond to home treatment needs a healthcare appointment.2

Regular balm use should ease discomfort while the skin heals. A severe case with cracked, bleeding skin can take 2 to 3 weeks to recover. Start treatment when tightness or stinging first appears rather than waiting for deeper cracks. See a doctor sooner if your lips become hot, painful and swollen, which can signal infection. A pharmacist can help choose a treatment and advise whether you need a doctor.234

How do you treat chronic chapped lips?

If your lips worsen or do not improve after 2 to 3 weeks of home care, see a dermatologist. Persistent dryness can come from an allergy, infection or another medical condition. Actinic cheilitis is a precancerous condition that causes dry, scaly lips and needs medical assessment. Increasing balm use will not identify the cause.1

Review lip products and toothpaste if chapping keeps returning: toothpaste ingredients can cause allergic lip inflammation. Tell your clinician about medicines you use, particularly retinoids, because medication reactions can cause cheilitis. A clinician can examine your lips and, when needed, arrange allergy testing or other tests. Persistent symptoms need the cause checked rather than another round of trial and error.25

Is a blister the same as chapped lips?

A small blister filled with fluid, often preceded by tingling, burning or itching, could be a cold sore rather than ordinary chapping. Acyclovir cream treats cold sores caused by herpes simplex, not routine dryness. If you use acyclovir cream, do not put balm, sunscreen or cosmetics on the treated area unless your doctor tells you to. The cream can itself cause dry or cracked lips; report severe or persistent irritation. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, planning pregnancy or breastfeeding before using topical acyclovir.36