Please help me with my son's face

[fartfacemcfartfaceface]

I am absolutely at a loss about what to do with my 7yo ds. His mouth constantly looks like this. Sometimes he has impetigo which I treat with ficudin cream. But he has developed a kind of 'tic' where he constantly licks and stretches his mouth resulting in this red rash which looks bloody awful but he insists it isn't sore. I've set him a challenge that if he can get it looking good and keep it clear for a month he'll get a reward of his choice, but that was a week ago and it still looks like this. I've tried picking him up on it every time he licks/stretches and that hasn't worked. I've tried ignoring it and obviously that hasn't worked either. I don't know what to do next. Anyone had any experience of this?

I've tried Vaseline, I've tried lanolin, I've even put plasters around his mouth which works until they come off and he starts again 😖

Oh poor kid. No advice but bumping for you

wash with flannel& warm water a couple of times a day.
put on moisturiser & lip balm.
can you try giving him a fidget thing to distract?

My DS had similar but t was a reaction to some salt and vinegar crisps he had been eating, just one particular brand.

It might be a fungal infection now. Ds2 had this around the same age. I took him to the doctors and got some cream.

Is there anything going on in his life? Any stress/ bullying that could be causing a tic to develop?. My dad developed a tic during a time of stress. I'd be wanting to find out what caused the behaviour.

Thank you. I'm at a loss. He's back at school tomorrow and I'm worried they'll send him home thinking it's impetigo. I'm not convinced it is as it's not responding to the cream - i think it's a result of this weird 'tic' thing.

No, no bullying or anything, he's very popular, its when he's concentrating on something - you know how some kids poke their tongue out when they concentrate, but he's licking, so perhaps more of a habit than a tic. and I think where the skin is so dry It feels tight so he stretches his mouth.

I did this as a kid. Nothing helpful to add other than I grew out of it (and moved onto other tics )

don't worry about school, he will not be the only one with 'winter lips'

maybe buy some lip balm together? so instead of licking he can apply balm himself?

I don't have any experience with that but as a nurse u feel like a barrier cream would be useful? So would protect the underlying skin whenever he licks.

Ds gets this too but it's a hard habit to break. Fidget gadgets might be worth a try.

Yes he's had a lip balm but won't put it on independently imhappy to try a barrier cream I might pop to pharmacist with him this afternoon and see what they think.

My ds has similar, have had some success with regular application of fucidin but then with a barrier cream rubbed in over it (sudocrem). The barrier cream was recommended by a gp and gives it a chance to heal whilst protected from the maintaining factors eg saliva creating a moist environment.

Poor chap they look very sore, of lip balms actually have irritants in them peppermint or lemon etc. Or they are like Vaseline which doesn’t actually moisturise only makes a barrier.

Try La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Lips

www.escentual.com/la-roche-posay/lrpcicaplast002/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAjszhBRDgARIsAH8KgvcWZt-1R200_8GGQyJQd9lGx23Fhw_nllmbtAmmJt2mk59ZpegnDekaAvE9EALw_wcB

*a lot of

Has he had strep throat or a tonsillitus infection recently. If so check out a condition called PANDAS. Not to worry but it can be a sign especially the tics.

My son used to do this a lot and one of my friends gave us a Melrose stick. It’s so effective and really helped!

My daughter does this. We use vaseline and sudacreme and a reward system to stop the licking and picking

My son did this at times of stress. He grew out of it.

He has lip licker's dermatitis. Quite common in children. Treatment is as you are doing with emollient/moisturiser and trying to stop licking! A v mild steroid cream might help too. Good luck!

Looks like very dry lips which have been made worse by licking.

Vaseline makes it worse too.

Get some of this & keep reapplying.

It will sting but gets better each time

Probably not remotely near it, but does he rinse out properly and wash his face after brushing his teeth? It might be that traces of toothpaste around his mouth are causing discomfort (one brand seems worse than others ) and he's licking his lips because of it.
I would be careful about applying cream as some have irritants - some people react to aqueous cream, salicylic acid etc.
I would also consider a multivitamin tablet just in case.
I am not a medical person, just trying to help.

Use Lypsyl lip balm, no other it has to be Lypsyl, he can use it many times a day on the whole red area...My DD had this and is prone to getting it every winter...we tried everything but Lypsil is the only thing tht always works.

Once he puts it on he must try hard not to lick it.

The key is to stop the tic. We got DS some chew buddy's to use at home and that helped the face tic endS. He still does it occasionally (and he was like this 7 years ago!) but will stop himself and go to something else straight away. The chew buddy and a cream from the doc was enough to clear it up and prevent it happening again.

Try the clinique lip balm in the green tube. Expensive but excellent at skin around the lips.