Protect your lips together and say goodbye to cheilitis!

Xiaoxin is a Sichuan girl who loves beauty. She loves spicy food and especially likes to eat tangerine hotpot. But recently, not to mention eating hotpot, she feels pain in her lips even when eating normally. She looks in the mirror and finds that her lips are dry. Not only are they cracked and flaky, but they bleed in severe cases. Her speech is affected and she dares not even open her mouth or laugh. She usually changes different colors of lipstick every day when putting on makeup, but now she only dares to use lip balm. Sometimes, after applying lip balm, her dry lips not only do not get better, but also become redder. Because her chapped lips do not get better, she will unconsciously lick her lips, but she always feels that the more she licks, the drier they get, and the drier they get, the more she wants to lick them. In autumn and winter, this symptom will be more serious.

Is the problem that Xiaoxin encountered also the problem of many friends? In fact, with the acceleration of the pace of life of modern people and the influence of living environment, the incidence of cheilitis is getting higher and higher. At the same time, cheilitis is the most easily ignored disease in people's daily life. When many people have cheilitis, their first reaction is to think whether they are "getting angry".

In fact, there are many causes of cheilitis. For example, Xiaoxin's frequent lip licking is also one of the causes! Although licking lips can temporarily moisten the lips, the saliva will evaporate in a short time and take away the original moisture on the surface of the lips, forming a vicious cycle of licking more and drier lips, and licking more and drier lips. Severe loss of moisture can also cause lips to crack, causing pain, bleeding, scabs, etc. Long-term and recurrent cheilitis seriously affects the patient's health and life, and also causes physical and mental harm to the patient.

Next, let us learn about cheilitis, know ourselves and the enemy, and better prevent and treat it.

There are many types of cheilitis, and the causes of cheilitis are also complex. Different inducing factors may lead to different types of cheilitis.

The most common type of cheilitis in daily life is chronic cheilitis, which is a chronic nonspecific cheilitis that can occur on both the upper and lower lips, but is more common on the lower lip. It is also more severe when it occurs, with recurring symptoms and sometimes mild and sometimes severe. It usually worsens in the dry seasons of autumn and winter and may persist without healing. It is mainly divided into the following two types:

① Chronic desquamative cheilitis: The main symptoms are dry, chapped and desquamating lips.

②Chronic erosive cheilitis: The main manifestations are repeated erosion of the red part of the lips, the formation of yellow scabs by inflammatory exudates, and the formation of blood scabs when accompanied by bleeding.

We have learned about the symptoms of chronic cheilitis, so what are the possible causes of cheilitis? The following are summarized:

① Long-term stimulation from bad lip habits such as licking lips, biting lips, pursing lips, and tearing off dandruff with hands.

②High mental stress and staying up late.

③Unbalanced diet and lack of B vitamins.

④ Stimulation from tobacco and alcohol, spicy food, and infection (dry lips, chapped lips, exudation, and scabs).

⑤ Allergy to drugs or allergies to objects that come into contact with the lips (such as lipstick, lipstick, perfume), manifested as severe swelling of the lips, white or light red in color, requiring treatment with anti-allergic drugs (allergic cheilitis).

⑥ Long-term exposure to sunlight causes the lips (especially the upper lip) to turn purple or black, accompanied by desquamation (solar cheilitis).

Now that we know the causes of cheilitis, how can we prevent chronic cheilitis in our daily life? If cheilitis occurs, how can we take care of it at home? Here are some tips for prevention and treatment:

1. Get rid of bad lip habits such as licking lips, biting lips, pursing lips, and tearing dandruff with hands.

2. Do not use inferior lipsticks, lipsticks and perfumes or those containing irritating ingredients such as mint.

3. Be careful to avoid excessive wind, sun, cold, and stay away from stimulation such as tobacco, alcohol, spicy food, etc. Actinic cheilitis is a potential malignant disease caused by long-term exposure to ultraviolet rays, with a malignant rate of 3.07%.

4. Pay attention to rest and keep yourself in a good mood.

5. Drink plenty of water (2000-2500mL) every day to replenish water.

6. Eat a light diet with a balanced combination of meat and vegetables, eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, and increase your intake of vitamin B.

7. Patients with mild desquamation, if they have no obvious symptoms, can apply a small amount of lip balm.

8. For patients with chronic desquamative cheilitis with desquamation and chapped skin, you can use warm water compresses (4 to 8 layers of gauze, 1 to 2 times a day, 15 to 20 minutes each time) to remove desquamation; you can also apply antibiotics or hormone ointments topically under the guidance of a doctor (note that they cannot be used for a long time)!

9. For patients with chronic erosive cheilitis with exudation and crusts, under the guidance of a doctor, first use local wet compresses with liquid medicine (4 to 8 layers of gauze, 1 to 2 times a day, 15 to 20 minutes each time) to remove the crusts, and then apply antibiotics or hormone ointments topically (note that it cannot be used for a long time)!

10. If chronic cheilitis is not improved by home care, or if allergic cheilitis or more serious symptoms occur, you should seek medical attention promptly. Do not use antibiotics or hormone drugs on your own. You should use drugs under the guidance of a doctor according to the severity of the disease.