Cheilitis, aka cheilosis, is a courtly way of saying you have chapped lips. Whenever you lips are chapped they generally appear dry and scaly. You cheilitis lips are likely sensitive, may be red with swelling, or perhaps even suffer from a couple of small cracks.
There are several causes for cheilitis to develop. The most common being poor nutrition. A deficiency of iron or vitamin B12 can bring on chapped lips.
Vitamin supplements may help. Yet your optimum moist lip solution is consume a healthy diet that includes an ample amount of iron and B12 on an ongoing basis.
Other possible causes for cheilitis chapped lips include:
- high fever
- dehydration
- cold weather
- vitamin deficiency
- overdose of vitamin A
- allergic reactions ~ skin care concoctions, lip balm, makeup
Some health disorders can make lips more susceptible to chapping, such as:
Certain drugs can be a cause for lips to chap:
- lithium ~ treats mania
- isoniazid ~ for tuberculosis
- D-penicillamine ~ for Wilson’s disease
- retinoids for acne ~ isotretinoin & acitretin
- chemotherapy agents ~ busulfan & actinomycin
- phenothiazine ~ treats headache, mental disorders
Cheilitis caused by lip-licking typically creates dry and scaly lips, with a pink banded mouth.
Angular cheilitis refers to the “cracked corners” of your mouth condition. This painful, and sometimes weepy, cracking can last for months if you don’t offer them some type of treatment.
Angular cheilitis is often associated with one of these mouth corner cracker causers:
- iron deficiency
- folate deficiency
- diabetes mellitus
- poor fitting dentures
- vitamin B12 deficiency
- candida fungal infection
- thrush ~ oral candidiasis
- immunocompromised folks
- undergone head & neck radiation
- staphylococcal bacterial infection
Angular cheilitis corner of mouth cracks are ofttimes treated with topical antifungals and topical steroids.
Actinic cheilitis is a precancerous condition related to cumulative effects of the sun. Most often the lower lip being affected with persistent:
- scaling
- redness
- dryness
- cracking
- chapping
Squamous cell carcinoma develops in about 10% of actinic cheilitis cases. The highest percentage of actinic cheilitis occurs in men, elderly and the fair skinned.
One health preserving activity you can do for your lips is stop licking them to cheilitis.Try a little instead of your tongue.