How to Alleviate Chronically Dry, Cracked, Chapped Lips

It’s getting to be that time of year when your trusty tube of lip balm never leaves your side.

As the weather changes, our skin suffers in the form of dryness, redness, chaffing, and chapping. The skin that covers our lips is especially prone to becoming dry and chapped because this area lacks the oil glands that help to keep the rest of our skin smooth and supple.

Then, there are those of us who deal with chronically dry, chapped, and peeling lips the entire year through. Some skin is just more sensitive to every little change in the air, but other factors, like being mildly dehydrated, having chronic allergies, or habitually wetting the lips, can lead to chronic dryness, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Most of the time, the symptoms of chapped lips are short-lived. The skin does really want to heal itself, but sometimes it needs some extra help.

However, if you’re noticing that the symptoms aren’t disappearing after a couple of days, there’s a chance you need to take some extra measures, not just to heal but to, more importantly, prevent dryness and chapping.

A few of the most common symptoms of chronically dry lips include:

• Skin peeling on or around the lips
• Cracking
• Redness
• Lip products don’t always absorb well and tend to bleed out onto the skin around the mouth
• Itching
• Mild pain
• Small sores, especially at the corners of the mouth
• More severe chapped lips may bleed

There are multiple reasons why your lips may be chronically chapped. Some of them are easily remedied, like ceasing to use irritating lip products, while others are more complex, such as medications that cause dry lips. 

These are the main culprits of dry, chapped lips:

• Frequently licking or biting your lips
• Frequently touching your lips with fingers or other objects – chewing on a pencil, for example
• Dry air
• Sunburn
• Windburn
• Reaction to irritating ingredients/products
• Allergies
• Dehydration
• Vitamin deficiency, especially vitamin B12 or vitamin C
• Yeast overgrowth
• Certain medications – antihistamines, antibiotics, retinol, some antidepressants, chemotherapy medications

If your chronic chapped lips never go away or you tend to experience intense flare-ups, your chapped lips might not be chapped at all. You might have a condition called cheilitis.

Cheilitis is characterized the same as chapped lips in many ways, except it’s more intense and uncomfortable. Redness, dryness, peeling, cracking, itching, bleeding, and crustiness of the lip area are all signs of Cheilitis.

Cheilitis has several different causes, such as long-term sun exposure and a type of thrush or yeast infection. Cheilitis can also be related to a form of eczema that’s likely caused by the very products you’re putting on your lips in hopes of finding relief.

Lipstick, ingredients in many lip balms and lip treatments, sunscreen, toothpaste, food additives, and chronic lip licking can be behind a case of Cheilitis.

A dermatologist can help with a diagnosis and offer treatment options, but an ounce of prevention is worth so much more. Using a treatment that contains gentle ingredients that heal and repair is key. Look for ingredients such as coconut oil, shea butter, sea buckthorn oil, and cocoa butter, which are all gentle and therapeutic for the sensitive lip area.

The good news is that you don’t have to just deal with dry, chapped lips. There are steps you can take to turn it around and bring about healing. Some relief often comes quickly, but it might be a couple of weeks before your battle with chronic chapped lips is finally over. 

• Stop Using Products That Make The Problem Worse: Many ingredients in drugstore lip balms are actually counterproductive in healing lips. Ingredients like eucalyptus, camphor, lanolin, and those that give lip balms flavor and color can be drying and irritating. Also, if it stings or makes your dry lips itchy, stop using it.
  
  
• Swap Out Those Products For Ones That Heal: Natural and gentle are the key to. Coconut oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, and sea buckthorn oil will help heal and maintain moisture. Our SIBU Miracle Stick offers a combination of all of these, plus it’s a natural product that you can use for so many other things.
  
  Or try a therapeutic dose of sea buckthorn seed oil applied directly & regularly. Your lips are going to drink it up! Start with a 2  oz. or 4 oz. size.
  
  
• Be Committed: Once you find a gentle, healing remedy for your lips, use it throughout the day. Apply it in the morning after brushing your teeth, before you go outside, before bed, and anytime your lips feel like they’re in need of replenishment.
  
  
• Apply Sunscreen: Don’t neglect to apply sunscreen to your lips, but choose one that’s specially designed for this delicate area. Also, make sure it’s a clean sunscreen that’s void of toxic ingredients like oxybenzone, octinoxate, and homosalate
  
  
• Hydrate: Make sure you’re getting enough water!
  
  
• Use a Humidifier: If the air in your home is dry, plug in a humidifier, especially at night, to prevent your lips from drying out.
  
  
• Let Your Lips Rest: If you’re in the habit of constantly licking, biting, or touching your lips, it’s time to stop. These habits are all extremely irritating to your lips and can both cause chapping and make it worse.
  
  
• BUT, the most important and crucial step to TRULY hydrated & moisturized lips.... Omega 7.

Sick of applying chapstick every 20 minutes? With a few simple steps, your lips can be restored back to being beautiful, healthy, and pain-free.

Adding omega 7 is essential for your body's ability to hydrate and moisturize at the cellular level. If you suffer from chronically chapped lips, you may have just found your solution!

SIBU Omega 7 Support Soft Gels provide the highest concentrations of omega 7 found anywhere in the world. It's this rare and potent omega that helps your lips keep in more natural moisture so you're not just covering the symptom, but addressing the problem right at the source.

Say goodbye to dry, chapped, cracked painful lips for good. Give your lips what they need to stay healthy, hydrated and moisturized. Not just covered with a filmy wax. 

Try SIBU Omega 7 Support today (psst... it's on sale right now!)