Dry hands and lips causes (English)

In the article we discuss dry lips. We talk about the causes of its appearance, symptoms and treatment methods. You will find out what causes this condition, what to do with tightness of the lips, what to smear them with, people’s reviews about therapy and necessary prevention.

Why do lips dry out?

Dryness and peeling of lips is an unpleasant cosmetic defect that causes constant discomfort. It makes it difficult to talk and laugh, and you have to constantly look for various means to mask the problem. But it is easier to cope with the disease if you know the main reasons for the development of dry lips. Here they are:

increased body temperature;
poisoning;
allergies to decorative cosmetics - long-lasting cosmetics (especially matte lipsticks) dry out the skin. With frequent use of such cosmetics, lips dry out, peel, and microcracks appear on them. For this reason, when choosing long-lasting lipsticks, pay attention to the composition of the product; it should contain vegetable oils, vitamins, animal fats, beeswax, etc.;
use of inappropriate personal hygiene products;
prolonged exposure to cold or hot air - frost, wind, sun rays have a detrimental effect on the condition of the dermis. Exposure to harsh weather conditions results in dry, chapped and chapped lips. This condition is due to the fact that during frost and wind, the skin becomes covered with small cracks, loses elasticity and its own supply of moisture. Under direct exposure to sunlight, the skin of the lips dries faster, flakes and ages;
nervous tension or regular stress;
sensitive skin;
taking hormonal medications;
bad habits (alcohol and smoking) - smoking helps to reduce salivation, because of this the smoker often licks his lips, which disrupts their water-fat layer, as a result of which the lips become dry;
frequent temperature changes;
insufficient air humidity - most often this happens during the heating season, when the air in the room becomes drier and hotter;
improper skin care - the use of cosmetics out of season, untimely removal and non-use of special cosmetics in the summer contribute to dry lips;
consumption of hot drinks and dishes, as well as spices with an overly pungent taste - spices and boiling water provoke microburns of soft tissues, because of this they turn red, swell, after which they begin to itch and become covered with cracks;
regular biting and licking of lips - when biting, microcracks appear on the lips, and during licking their water-lipid protective layer is disrupted.

Dry lips can be the cause of various ailments, including:

Vitamin deficiency in the body - a lack of vitamins B2, nicotinic and ascorbic acids, tocopherol and retinol can cause dryness, peeling and cracks on the lips.
Cheilitis - this pathology affects both the lips themselves and the area around the lips and corners of the lips, the mucous membrane. A sign of the disease is peeling, the appearance of small crusts and wounds. This makes it difficult for the patient to eat, drink water and talk.
Diseases of the endocrine system (diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism).
Fungal infection - as a rule, the cause of inflammation of the dermis around the mouth is the fungus Candida Ablicans. This microorganism provokes peeling of the lip borders and the formation of microwounds in the corners of the lips.
Herpes - the presence of herpes simplex virus type 1 in the human body manifests itself in the form of dry lips, itching, and the appearance of bubbles with liquid on their surface.
Low hemoglobin level - manifests itself in the form of cracks in the corners of the lips.
Psoriasis - when the area around the mouth peels, itching and pain occur.
Dehydration – Dry lips are a symptom of not drinking enough water.
Malfunction of the sebaceous glands.
Ichthyosis.
Kidney failure.
Infectious processes in the body.

Prolonged dryness of the lips causes cracking and the development of erosions in the corners of the lips, which greatly deteriorates the quality of life. This symptom can cause a serious illness, so you should not self-medicate. Consult your doctor for help so that he can identify the exact cause of dry lips and prescribe adequate treatment.

Causes of dry lips in newborns and older children

Dry lips in a newborn bring a lot of inconvenience to both the child and his parents. Due to the fact that the baby cannot yet explain why he is experiencing discomfort, parents cannot provide the necessary treatment in a timely manner.

The main causes of peeling and dry lips in newborns and older children include:

atopic dermatitis - accompanied by peeling, itching and redness of the dermis in the area of the nasolabial triangle. Also, small wounds and cracks may be observed on the lips;
licking lips;
increased body temperature;
nasal congestion - due to the inability to breathe through the nose, the child does this through the mouth, as a result of which the lips become chapped and dry;
dehydration;
exposure to low or high temperatures.

Symptoms of dry lips

The clinical picture of dry lips is as follows:

peeling;
itching;
burning lips;
local increase in temperature;
intense redness;
seizures in the corners of the lips;
formation of cracks around the lips and on the lips;
bleeding.

The use of ointments, creams and various pharmaceutical drugs to eliminate the disease without identifying the true cause of this condition can lead to complications. For this reason, it is important not to self-medicate, but to first consult with a doctor.

If certain pathological processes occur in the body, then additional symptoms may be accompanied by the following signs:

signs of general intoxication of the body;
problems in the gastrointestinal tract;
weakness and fatigue;
yellowness of the skin;
low-grade fever.

In case of skin diseases, dry lips are accompanied by the following symptoms:

increased susceptibility to external stimuli;
peeling of the skin around the lips;
burning;
formation of acne, flaky spots;
brittleness of nails and hair;
itching;
local increase in temperature;
dryness of the dermis.

In the case of infectious processes in the body, signs may include general intoxication of the body and a rash on the dermis. In this case, self-medication is prohibited!

Diagnostics

Only a specialist after an examination can tell you how to get rid of dry lips. Diagnostic measures consist of the following stages:

passing a general urine test;
examination of the patient;
ultrasound examination of internal organs;
immunogram;
biochemical, general blood test;
allergy diagnostics;
Conducting gastroenterological studies in the presence of typical symptoms.

The exact diagnostic program depends on each specific case. Sometimes it can be supplemented with other analyzes described above, or reduced to several studies.

Treatment

When the main cause of dry lips is identified, appropriate basic therapy is carried out. If a cosmetic defect is caused by weather conditions, inappropriate cosmetics, an allergic reaction or hypovitaminosis, then therapy includes the following measures:

elimination of the provoking factor - stopping the use of inappropriate cosmetics, reducing the amount of time spent outside in inappropriate weather;
taking multivitamins;
the use of topical medications to eliminate the symptoms of the disease - ointment for cracks (for example, Bepanten, you can buy it at the pharmacy), lotions;
proper nutrition;
taking sedative medications, avoiding stress;
minimizing nervous tension.

If dry lips are caused by overly sensitive skin, then in this case you will need the help of a dermatologist or cosmetologist who will select the optimal cosmetic products to care for this skin type. In windy and cold weather, it is necessary to use hygienic lipstick.

It is important to understand that therapy must be comprehensive. Using one or more local remedies will not get rid of the problem; you also need to change your diet and be less nervous.

Folk remedies for dry lips

Traditional medicine offers various masks and scrubs to eliminate dryness. Here they are:

Honey-coffee scrub - mix a small amount of coffee grounds with honey, apply the resulting mixture to the surface of your lips. Massage lightly, then remove with a cotton pad and apply moisturizer.
Honey - Apply the product to the surface of your lips, after a quarter of an hour, rinse with warm water. Honey moisturizes the skin well, relieves burning, and has a disinfecting effect.
Vegetable oils - It is best to use olive or sea buckthorn. Lubricate your lips with a small amount of oil and wait until completely absorbed. The use of sea buckthorn oil promotes rapid restoration of the dermis.
Honey and sour cream mask - mix sour cream and honey in equal quantities. Apply the resulting composition to your lips. After 15 minutes, rinse off and apply a moisturizer.

You need to make such masks at least 2 times a week to get a positive result.

Helpful for dry lips massage with a soft toothbrush. It will replace a scrub, remove dead skin particles and improve blood circulation. The massage should be performed with a brush previously soaked in water.

Prevention

Experts recommend following these rules to avoid dry lips:

apply hygienic lipstick, especially in autumn and winter;
visit your doctor regularly to promptly treat infectious and inflammatory processes in the body;
eat a balanced diet; your diet must include fresh vegetables and fruits rich in vitamins;
use only high-quality cosmetics and in season;
do not lick your lips, especially when you are outside;
do not eat too hot or very cold foods;
Don’t be lazy, before going to bed, remove any remaining makeup using special cosmetics;
promptly treat caries and other oral diseases;
maintain optimal humidity in the room;
drink enough water to avoid dehydration
take courses of multivitamins.

Reviews

Below are reviews from people who have used various products to deal with dry lips. Check out their experience, maybe it will be useful for you.

Margarita, 29 years old

In winter, my lips often dry out due to the wind, and in summer - due to frequent exposure to direct sunlight. I consulted a specialist several times, but no health problems were identified. Now I carefully select lipstick for winter and cosmetic care products for spring and summer. Hygienic lipstick with vitamins has always proven to be more effective.

Alexandra, 24 years old

Dry lips are a cosmetic problem that I have been trying to solve for over 2 years. I visited doctors, they identified infectious processes in my body, and cured them. Now I use folk remedies to eliminate dry lips, my favorite is a mask with sour cream and carrot juice. I also regularly visit a doctor for timely treatment of emerging diseases.

Victoria, 40 years old

For dry lips I use Bepanten ointment and Vaseline. These products have never let me down yet. They eliminate dry lips quickly and effectively, I am satisfied.

Dry lips are a cosmetic problem that must be treated. Be sure to contact a specialist to identify the cause of this condition, and then use traditional and traditional medicine for treatment. Eat right and worry less, and then your lips will always be attractive and healthy!

Video: Why are your lips dry?

Dry lips - common problem among many women. Moreover, the skin of the lips can become dry not only in the cooler months of the year. This article will help you understand what causes dry lips and how to deal with this problem.

Why women's lips dry and crack: reasons

Doctors and dermatologists indicate several common causes of dry lips:

temperature changes;
lack of vitamins;
certain diseases;
Unhealthy Lifestyle;
professional problems;
reaction to medications;
bad habits.

Sometimes dry lips are caused by two or even three reasons at once, which are not so easy to deal with. It is worth talking about each reason for the manifestation of this trouble separately.

Temperature changes

For many, discomfort on the lips appears precisely during temperature changes, when delicate skin is exposed to polar temperatures. This happens especially often in winter and autumn, when you need to leave the house and go outside, where there are sub-zero temperatures and strong winds that dry out your lips.

In summer, you should also be on guard - many already know how the insidious sun negatively affects hair: it dries it out, makes it more brittle and dull. Ultraviolet rays do not have the best effect on the skin. But, if the long-term effect of prolonged exposure to the sun manifests itself only years later (wrinkles, age spots), then the lips may dry out immediately.

Hypersensitivity to cold or solar radiation is more often diagnosed not in women, but in men 20-60 years old.

Lack of vitamins

This is a big problem in the winter-spring period, when many people eat less varied than in the summer. The main fighters for the beauty and smoothness of the skin of the lips are vitamins A, E, D and B (especially B2). Often, in addition to dry lips, there is a burning sensation in the mucous membranes of the mouth and tongue, and signs of fine-scaly peeling and thin vertical cracks are noticeable on the reddish border of the lips. The lack of vitamins is often painful - cracks that tend to bleed and an enlarged tongue are a concern.

Diseases

Dry and cracking lips can be caused by an illness. One of the most common manifestations of serious health problems is cheilitis, an inflammatory process that affects the mucous membrane and skin of the lips.

Cheilitis can manifest itself in the form of swelling, redness, dryness and peeling of the lips, and sometimes bleeding ulcers, purulent crusts, burning and pain when opening the mouth and eating. Often the problem is recurrent.

Cheilitis may be associated or caused by the following reasons:

Fungal infections, erythematosis, psoriasis, lichen planus, syphilis, tuberculosis and other skin diseases;
Allergic reactions. Often appear during contact with components included in lipsticks and some products. Those suffering from such troubles have clinical manifestations of dryness and flaking of the facial skin;
Neurological disorders. The so-called exfoliative cheilitis occurs from severe anxiety, depression, and anxious feelings of a person. This type of cheilitis most often has a continuous, sluggish course, with moments of remissions and exacerbations, and is almost impossible to self-heal;
Hyperfunction of the thyroid gland. Researchers have reason to believe that this problem also causes dry lips;
Chronic gastritis and gastroduodenitis. Up to a third of people with these diseases constantly experience bad breath, rashes on the lips and in the mouth: dryness and peeling of the lips are observed in most patients;
Anomalies of the minor salivary glands (congenital or acquired). At risk of getting glandular cheilitis are women with chronic periodontal disease, tartar and caries: these problems lead to infection of the salivary gland ducts;
Neuritis of the facial nerve. There may be a hereditary predisposition. A sign of these diseases can be dry lips, itching, and sometimes swelling that spreads to other parts of the face. The color of the lips and skin does not change, although in swollen areas the skin becomes bluish-pink. Neuritis can manifest itself as a skewing of the face in the healthy direction, and the nasolabial fold is smoothed out.

Professional problems

We are talking, first of all, about musicians who play wind instruments. In response to the prolonged presence of mouthpieces in the mouth, severe itching, dryness, pain, burning, swelling and redness of the lips occur. In some cases, bubbles appear on the lips, after opening which cracks are exposed. This is another clinical manifestation of cheilitis - allergic contact. Most often, in musicians, such cheilitis becomes chronic and manifests itself in the form of dryness, flaking and slight itching without a strong inflammatory reaction.

Bad habits

Bad habits that can cause peeling and dry lips include:

constant lip biting;
the habit of holding foreign objects in the mouth: pencils, pens, etc.

Unhealthy Lifestyle

An unhealthy lifestyle can be understood, first of all, as unhealthy diet (consuming large amounts of salty foods, coffee), addiction to drugs and alcohol consumption.

Medications

Some drugs can cause a number of side effects, which are described in the instructions for use. Such medications include a powerful drug for the treatment of skin diseases, Roaccutane: this drug makes the skin tender and hypersensitive - lips crack and dry during the entire period of treatment. Some other drugs for the treatment of acne have the same effect - “Aknekutan”, “Sotret”, etc.

Treatment for dry lips

Dry lips occur for certain reasons, the identification and treatment of which is the main task of every beautiful lady or man. At the same time, it is necessary to treat and eliminate external defects at home.

Deep health problems that cause dry lips can be treated with appropriate medications prescribed by a doctor. In some cases, autohemotransfusion (transfusion of a patient's own blood), UVB (ultraviolet irradiation of blood) and other methods of increasing the body's reactivity are effective.
If signs of an allergy are found to any cosmetic product or product, then you should not experiment - forget about it forever, no matter how tasty or expensive it is. If the lips are very sore, antihistamines are taken orally.
In order to prevent your lips from drying out, peeling and hurting, you need to constantly protect them from cold or insolation, using hygienic lipstick before going outside - and better with SPF protection, which will be useful in winter.

It is also beneficial to use moisturizing lipsticks after meals and throughout the day.

When treating complex forms of dryness and irritation of the lips, it is very important to follow a hypoallergenic diet, excluding strawberries, caviar, herbs, citrus fruits, spicy foods and alcohol from the diet.

Taking care of the beauty of your lips is an important daily ritual for every girl who wants to always look attractive to her man and everyone around her. Following these simple rules will always allow you to smile broadly and feel great!

The skin of the lips is so thin, delicate and sensitive that it reacts sharply to any irritants, including allergens and stress, weather and temperature changes. That is why she needs special attention.

Causes of dry lips
Features of lip care
Precautionary measures
Vitamins against dry lips
Review of lip care products

Causes of dry lips

Dry lips can be caused by many factors.

Sunburn. In the summer, we don’t even notice that the skin of our lips receives hefty doses of ultraviolet radiation.

Intense thirst. You can check it yourself: coffee lovers who drink little water and a lot of cappuccino have chapped lips.

Increased body temperature during illness. It is no coincidence that the most famous recommendation from doctors is to drink as much water as possible when feeling unwell.

Intoxication of the body. During poisoning, the body experiences an acute lack of moisture, which cannot but affect the condition of the skin of the lips.

Severe stress and habit of licking lips. Without noticing it, we provoke dryness by licking or biting our lips.

Allergy to cosmetics. A reaction to lipstick that is not suitable for you will immediately manifest itself in the form of peeling of the skin of the lips.

Lack of vitamins. Strict diets, vegetarianism and other reasons for refusing animal products rich in fat-soluble vitamins do not have the best effect on the condition of the skin of the lips.

Bad habits. Constant contact with an absorbent cigarette filter deprives lip tissue of already deficient lipids.

“Dry lips can be a symptom of a serious medical condition. For example, the only sign of early stage diabetes or kidney disease. If neither lip balm nor taking vitamin E helps, see a doctor immediately,” warns Elena Eliseeva, medical expert at Vichy.

Signs of dry lips:

Dry hands and lips causes