Who doesn’t love soft and glossy lips? The delicate ones where you ladies can apply the lipstick in one go. The skin on our lips is quite thin and that is why it is easier for them to become dry and chapped.
No matter what the season, you can get cracked lips any time. It is a common problem in people of all age groups regardless of gender. Our lips lose their moisture due to many reasons which we are discussing today with you.
In the age of pouts and selfies, it is important for social media butterflies (and who isn’t one?) to have flaunt-worthy lips. Due to a lot of factors, some of us have dark and dry lips and it is important to be aware of what causes it in order to avoid the triggers. Here are some common reasons why your lips are peeling and some easy ways to keep them healthy.
Reasons behind dry and peeling lips
Causes of chapped lips include:
- Sunburn.
- Cold weather.
- Hot or dry weather.
- Frequently licking your lips.
- Medical conditions (allergies, thyroid disorder, some autoimmune disorders) or reaction to a medication.
- Vitamin deficiency (iron, vitamin B).
- Smoking.
- Dehydration.
If you are someone who is sick of your dry, flaky lips, then try these useful tips.
- Drink plenty of water and keep yourself hydrated whatsoever during the season. Dehydration is one of the main reasons behind dry lips especially in the summers and no lip balm or home remedy is going to work for you if you don’t drink enough water.
- On the other hand, the combination of cold air and chilling wind outside and dry, heated air inside all conspire to make your lips dry and tight.
When you go outside, you also might not think about lip protection right away. You must Look for a healing ointment that contains petrolatum, essential oils or glycerin.
- The lips may undergo changes in size, color, and surface. Some of these changes may occur due to medical problems. With aging, the lips may grow thinner.
Lip sores (ulcers) have various causes. A lip sore with hard edges may be a form of skin cancer (see Types of Oral Cancer; see also Lips and Sun Damage). Sores may also develop as a symptom of other medical conditions, such as erythema multiforme, recurrent oral herpes simplex virus infection (cold sores), or syphilis.
- This is something you may have heard time and again. Smoking actually dries out your lips by removing water and oil content from the skin. Your lips have very delicate skin and the tobacco in the cigarettes can make your lips dry and cause them to darken. Smoking accelerates the skin’s aging process, causing wrinkles. One reason for this is nicotine. Nicotine causes blood vessels to shrink and narrow, reducing blood flow and starving skin of oxygen and the nutrients it needs to remain healthy and supple. The repeated puckering of the lips when smoking and the heat generated by burning cigarettes can also cause smoker’s lips.
- Chapped lips can also be a sign of something more serious, including certain nutritional deficiencies.
Deficiencies in multiple nutrients, including iron, zinc, and B vitamins, can cause chapped lips.
- Many people lick their lips, so they lick the sunscreen off. And some people don’t apply sunscreen because they have lipstick or lip gloss on and don’t want to remove it. But harmful UV rays will penetrate the product if it doesn’t contain sun protection, so a lip balm should be an essential part of your routine.
1.Why are my lips dry even though I’m drinking water?
However, there is no clear indication of exactly how much water is enough to stay hydrated. Health professionals will recommend drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water, but for some people even this isn’t enough. As always, let your body guide you. If you notice that your skin and lips are dry even after drinking 10 glasses of water a day you obviously need more water. Also, in winters, most people use heaters and blowers to heat the house. But these heaters also cause a lot of dryness, making your skin and especially your lips very dry and chapped. So, the solution here is to either invest in a humidifier, or use an oil heater in winters to avoid the dryness.
2.How to stop lips from peeling?
Use non-irritating lip balm, lipstick, and other products that you apply to your lips. Many people mistake discomfort, such as burning, stinging, or tingling, as a sign that the active ingredients in a product are working. That’s not what’s happening. You’re actually irritating your lips, so you want to stop using any product that irritates your lips. Chapped lips are dry lips, so you want to stay hydrated.
Even in the winter, it’s important to protect your lips from the sun. The sun can burn dry, chapped lips more easily, which could trigger cold sores.
3.Does caffeine cause dry lips?
Do you rely on about 10 cups of coffee to get you through your work day? Well the coffee may be the culprit for your lips becoming dry! Caffeine is a diuretic and dries up your skin. The hot coffee may also be adding to the pigmentation on your lips.
4.Is licking your lips alright?
Dermatologists agree that the biggest cause of chapped lips is constantly biting or licking them. It’s a never-ending cycle, says Dr. Whitney Bowe: Saliva evaporates and dries out your lips, causing you to want to continue licking.
