Cracked, Chapped And Dry Lips

Chapped lips can happen to both men and women. Even children can suffer the effects of dry lips if there is excessive "lip licking" which is a common habit with some children.

Under the umbrella of the term “chapped lips” comes a drying of the lips, cracking of the top and sometimes lower levels of skin, pain, and even bleeding.

Skin on the rest of your body has natural oils. This can prevent chapping and drying due to adverse weather conditions. However, lips do not have these natural oils, so are subject to the excess drying affect that can happen.

Often dry, chapped and cracked lips are caused by nothing more than overexposure to wind, cold conditions and sunlight.

There are occasions when this condition is caused by a disease known as cheilitis, which is simply inflammation of the lips. If you notice more cracks, redness, swelling, or blisters you may consider talking to your doctor.

Home Remedies for Cracked, Chapped and Dry Lips

Everyone is different. Some may experience more dryness associated with chapped lips than others. There are many home remedies and natural cures that can help you have soft pink lips again which adds a friendly warm touch to anyone's smile.

Having a pinkish color on your lips is a sign of good health, some remedies to have baby soft lips include:

Drinking Plenty of Water

Probably the simplest natural cure of all for chapped lips is to drink plenty of water. So long as the cells of your lips have the ability to moisten themselves, chapping will not occur.

It is only when their ability to retain moisture is compromised that a problem with drying and cracking will start.

Humidify Your Home in Winter Months

Dry air can be as damaging to your lips as most anything else. So, during the winter months, when your heat is on full and the air is as dry as a bone, add some moisture to it with a humidifier.

Humidifiers produce water vapors that help keep the air in a room moist and if used correctly, can help improve indoor air. This natural cure is only a small investment away.

Don’t Bite, Pick or Lick Your Lips

You may believe licking your lips will help add moisture to the top layer of the skin. Although it may sound logical, it's not and the wrong thing to do.

Licking will actually increase the chapping process, since the moisture you add by licking evaporates quickly and takes along with it some of the natural moisture that was already there.

Biting and/or picking your lips can also compound the problem of dry, cracked, chapped lips. When you bite or pick, you are removing a critical top layer of protective skin, allowing lower layers to then become dry.

Simply stopping this habit can be a natural cure on its own.

Using Lip Balms

Once you get chapped lips, an easy home remedy to use for treatment is lip balm. Applying these products every hour can help heal dry, chapped lips and also prevent you from getting them again.

Look for a lip balm that contains shea butter, glycerin or other natural oils, humectants, glycerine, beeswax and has SPF 15 or higher included, as this will prevent sunburn of the lips as well as drying. Examples are: Burt's Bees Lip Balm and Aquaphor lip products.

Petroleum Jelly

If lip balms are not an option due to an allergy of some sort, petroleum jelly can be used as a home remedy as well. Apply it every hour as a natural cure to your dry, chapped lips.

Lip balms and the like can also be applied before bedtime. Overlap the lip line. If you wear lipstick, apply a lip balm first to help keep lips moisturized.

Eat a Well Rounded Diet

Low amounts of Vitamin B and iron in your diet can lead to dry, cracked lips. Make sure to eat a well rounded diet with plenty of the needed vitamins and minerals as a natural cure for this dry, chapped lips. Fish is contains natural oils like omega-3 fatty acids.