Healing Chapped Lips

If you suffer from chapped lips, it’s no fun. Dry winter days can wreak havoc on your lips. Many people do not realize that the reason lips do not heal when chapped is because they continue to lick and moisten them (when they are already chapped). Although the saliva temporarily soothes the lips, it in fact makes the lips and skin more dry and irritated. This cycle of licking the lips again and again for relief only compounds the chapping problem. If you continue licking you lips, they will remain chapped and only get worse.

So, how do you heal those cracked and painful lips? The first thing you need to do is protect your lips from the saliva. If the lips are not too chapped, the best thing to do is use something like Vaseline or a lip balm stick to protect them. If that doesn’t help, you can purchase a hydrocortisone cream to help reduce the lip inflammation. Once the inflammation is under control, Vaseline will help.

If you have a more serious case of lip chapping, you can ask your pharmacist to prepare a two-ounce solution of Rosen’s ointment. This ointment consists of 10 cc of Burrow’s Solution, 20 grams of Aquaphor and approximately 30 cc of plain zinc oxide paste. The Rosen’s solution both protects and heals your lips. Use it regularly and apply generously. By nature, you’re less likely to lick your lips. However, there is one downside. This lip solution is white and very noticeable. So, if you don’t want to use this in public, consider using it at night or within your home. Use other lip chapping products such as lip balm or Vaseline when in public.

Once your lips are healed, continue to use a lip balm or chap stick to help prevent further chapping.

Healing Chapped Lips