What causes chapped and peeling lips?

Chapped and peeling lips can be said to be a very common condition, especially in the autumn and winter seasons. Many people are very prone to this symptom, but many people are not aware of the causes of this. What causes chapped and peeling lips? What are your specific lip care tips?

1. Causes of chapped and peeling lips

1. Dry weather and lack of moisture

Common seasonal conditions, especially dry seasons in winter. The dry climate makes lips prone to chapped lips. The lips are a mucous membrane with no sweat glands and no oil secretion function. Therefore, in the dry season, the lips will easily become dry. At this time, many people will use their tongues to lick or bite their lips, but they will be evaporated quickly. At the same time, it takes away the already scarce moisture on the lips, causing the lips to become drier and the more you want to lick them. As a result, the more you lick your lips, the more they become drier, resulting in dry, cracked, and peeling lips.

Judgment criteria: Chapped lips caused by lack of moisture are specifically manifested by the accumulation of dead skin on the lips or corners of the mouth.

2. The body lacks vitamins

Judgment criteria: If the corners of the mouth begin to become dry and cracked, and there is white secretion at the corners of the mouth, it is a sign of vitamin deficiency, and attention should be paid to internal conditioning.

Chapped lips are related to people eating less fresh vegetables and insufficient intake of B vitamins in their daily lives. The red area around the lips of the human body is called the "red edge", and its moisture is maintained entirely by local abundant capillaries and a small amount of underdeveloped sebaceous glands.

Due to the poor blood circulation of human skin and mucous membranes in autumn and winter, if you eat less fresh vegetables and the body’s intake of vitamin B2 and vitamin A is insufficient, it will dry out and crack.

3. Cheilitis

If you always feel chapped lips, it may be caused by vitamin B2 deficiency, indigestion, or chronic cheilitis. It is best to ask a doctor for help in diagnosis. .

Cheilitis is often more common among young people. Some bad habits are the trigger. Licking or biting your lips when they are dry can lead to increased pain, lip bleeding, infection, difficulty in healing of the wound, and repeated attacks, leading to the formation of cheilitis. A vicious cycle develops into chronic cheilitis after a few days of delay. Oral diseases can also cause chapped lips, so you should also pay attention to oral hygiene. If your lips are chapped or scabbed and do not heal for a long time, you should go to the hospital in time for symptomatic treatment.

4. Physical factors

People who are allergic to certain cosmetics or sunlight, people who have excessive mood swings and are prone to getting angry, and tissue fluid in the human body caused by certain diseases (diabetes) The reduction of osmotic pressure leads to excessive drainage and lack of water in tissue fluid. Spicy and irritating tobacco and alcohol can easily cause chapped lips.

2. 8 Tips for Lip Care

1. Choose a simple lip balm

There are many types of lip balms on the market, including tubes and boxes. They come in different flavors, textures and functions, and the prices range from a few yuan to several hundred yuan. When buying lip balm, choose one with simple ingredients. It only needs to contain basic moisturizing ingredients such as glycerin to protect your lips.

2. Don’t lick dry lips

In dry weather, lips are more likely to become dry. Many people like to lick their lips to relieve dryness. In fact, this approach is wrong.

Licking your lips will only keep the lip skin temporarily moist, because saliva contains amylase, and the evaporation of water left on the lips will aggravate their dryness, leading to "the more you lick, the drier it becomes." If the tongue keeps licking the lips, bacteria in the saliva can be brought into the cracks and cause infection, forming lick sores.

3. Avoid eating spicy foods

Spicy foods can irritate your lips and worsen dryness. Some foods, such as abnormally spicy grilled wings, the chili powder on them can strongly irritate the lip mucosa, causing ulcers and even blisters.

4. Use lipstick properly

It is best to use oil containing vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin E before going out, before applying lipstick and before going to bed, and have good moisturizing properties. A lip balm with repairing properties; press gently onto your lips with a soft facial tissue to achieve double the effect.

5. Do not use lip balm too often

Most people use it 1-3 times a day; if your lips are particularly dry, you can apply lip balm immediately after eating or drinking.

6. Do not tear the skin off your lips

Do not tear off the skin with your hands, as this may tear the lips; you can first apply a hot towel for 3-5 minutes, and then use a soft Use a brush to remove dead skin on your lips, and then apply lip balm; it is best not to apply lipstick if your lips are always dry.

7. Make a Vaseline lip mask skillfully

Apply a thick layer of Vaseline on your lips; cut out an appropriate size of plastic wrap according to the needs of your lips and apply it on your lips , thus locking moisture into your lips.

Put a hot towel on the lips covered with plastic wrap and leave it there for about 10-20 minutes; use your fingers to gently massage the lips that have just been heated, starting from the middle of the lips outward like playing a piano. Just tap in the direction.

3. Lip care misunderstandings

Mistake 1: Lips do not need sun protection and makeup removal

Wrong! Lip whitening means to make lips Return your lips to the pink, transparent state they had when you were a child, instead of making your lips pale and bloodless.

There are many causes of lip pigmentation. External causes include long-term use of lipstick, neglect of lip makeup removal, long-term non-use of lip balm, neglect of lip sunscreen, etc.; internal causes include insufficient oxygen content in the blood and poor blood circulation in the lips. Not good and so on. These factors will cause the lip pigment to deepen. If the lips are not exfoliated on time, it will cause the lip pigment to settle.

The editor recommends: protect your lips from sunscreen every day; pay attention to lip makeup removal, buy makeup remover products specifically for lips; apply a thick layer of lip balm before using lipstick. This will prevent lip pigmentation from settling.

Mistake 2: Exfoliating lips with strong fruit acid

Wrong! Since the lips have only a thin layer of cuticle directly covering the dermis, and there is no sebum secretion, it is The skin on other parts of the body is much thinner. Therefore, the skin of the lips is actually very fragile. If you use products containing relatively strong fruit acid ingredients or facial scrubs at this time, it will cause direct damage to the lips. When we want to exfoliate our lips, we should choose exfoliating products specially designed for lips to exfoliate gently.

The editor recommends: Mildly exfoliate your lips once a week, apply a thick layer of lip-specific exfoliating product on your lips, wait for a few minutes, and gently massage your lips with your fingertips. Then clean your lips with warm water, and finally apply a thick layer of lip balm to lock in moisture.

Mistake 3: Lips cannot be whitened

Wrong! This concept is outdated. As long as you choose mild whitening products, it will not cause lip allergies. There are vitamin C derivatives, chamomile, licorice and other ingredients to choose from. You should avoid ingredients with relatively high acidity or high-concentration fruit acids to avoid irritating the lips.

The editor recommends: first use a cotton pad moistened with whitening lotion and apply it on the lips. After waiting for 3-5 minutes, gently pat the anti-aging product on the lips where the cuticle has been softened. Allergy and antioxidant whitening essence until it is absorbed.

Mistake 4: Toothpaste residue on lips

Ingredients that are good for teeth are not necessarily good for lips. In fact, toothpaste left on your lips can strip your lips of precious and scarce oils and moisture, causing them to become chapped. So be sure to wash the toothpaste off your lips and avoid using soap. Because the degreasing ability of toothpaste is already very strong.

Mistake 5: Forgetting your lips when applying sunscreen

The skin of the lips is not protected by pigment and is darker than the skin of other parts, so it is most likely to absorb ultraviolet rays. Therefore, no matter what the season, you must choose lipstick with sunscreen ingredients.

Mistake 6: Using lip balm indiscriminately

Choose the correct lip balm with guaranteed quality. Because cheap lipsticks contain a large amount of oil that has not been carefully purified and too much wax, some of which are unstable natural oils from animals and plants, which are easily oxidized and give off odor; too much wax can also affect the metabolism of the lip skin. . Excessive use of non-decolorizing lipsticks can easily lead to chapped lips because they contain volatile ingredients. Moreover, most non-decolorizing lipsticks do not contain oil and are less moisturizing than other lipsticks.