Chapped lips can occur without warning and although this is not really a life threatening situation, it can be a cause for embarrassment to some. Among the symptoms of dry and chapped lips are cracking, redness, flaking, sores, and tenderness just to name a few. If not treated immediately, your chapped lips may affect other parts of your mouth.
What causes our lips to dry in the first place? Among the factors that are linked to dry lips are excessive licking of lips, vitamin deficiency, overexposure to sunlight, harsh climate, as well as smoking. Although there are many over the counter medications that you can apply on your chapped lips, there are other healthier alternatives to this problem. Here are some to get you started.
- Cucumber. The discomfort associated with dry lips can be remedied by getting the juice from cucumber slices and applying the liquid on your lips. Not only will these help soothe your lips but can also help keep your lips moist. Just spread juice on your chapped lips several times in a day.
- Don’t lick your lips often. Most of us tend to lick our lips because we want to keep them moist but this habit can actually do more harm than good as your saliva can remove the natural oils on your lips. What’s more, your saliva contains acids in it that break down the food that you are consuming but which can also cause mild irritation on your lips.
- Water. Hydration is everything when it comes to minimizing dry, chapped lips so why not increase your water intake? The recommended 8 to 10 glasses of water can do you a world of good especially if you’re sweating a lot and your lips will thank you for it as they remain soft and moist.
- Aloe Vera. This wonder plant adds another benefit under its belt as its juice can be used to treat chapped lips. Even though the taste and smell can be off putting, the effects of applying aloe vera juice to your lips are on the positive side. The best part? You can grow these plants in your own backyard so you can simply cut a leaf to harvest the juice.
- Use balm. This is true especially before you wash your face. One reason behind this is that the cleanser that you are using on your face can cause dryness in your lips. By applying lip balm, you are giving your lips some protection against the acids in your cleanser.
- Milk cream. Aside from being one of the best skin softeners today, milk cream can also be used to speed up the removal of dead skin cells. Leave some drops of milk cream on your lips for a few minutes then spread them using a cotton ball dipped on lukewarm water. This will speed up the healing process of your chapped lips.
- Apply almond oil. Another treatment for chapped lips that you can do is to apply almond oil. Aside from moisturizing your lips, almond oil contains vitamins A and E which can combat free radicals. This means that there will be less chance of your lips drying out.
Start exfoliating. Exfoliating your lips is necessary to get rid of dead skin to reveal healthier looking skin underneath. You can use a soft toothbrush and brush it gently on your lips. You can also combine honey and sugar to create your own exfoliator for your lips which you can rub on your lips to get the same effects. This way, you won’t have to suffer from chapped and dry lips too much.
