Angular chellitis (cracked corner of mouth)

[froidIci]

Help!

Right corner of mouth been cracked for 2 months. Heals overnight and opens right back up when I wake up and talk/eat/yawn whatever.
so painful and scarring too :/

Used to get it every autumn but then didn’t for a few years and it came back with a bang this feb/March.

I concluded I was very stressed and run down with lots of international travel/worry - and made special attempts to remember daily multi vitamins. Vaseline etc. but nope - still there.
started taking Berocca yesterday in case b vitamins need a boost.

Diet largely home cooked but definitely lacking in fruit and veg. Could be that?

or is it fungal and needs something like canesten?

will see pharmacist on Tuesday but wondered if anyone has any tips or ideas ?

Canesten or savlon type cream/ ointment will probably help if you have some at home.
Fusidin is what is recommended.

And yes diet will be playing some part, as will being run down

Hi, I hate this. It can be fungal or mix of fungal/bacterial infection. A cream will clear it up in no time. Daktacort or canesten HC have worked well for me in the past.

Any other symptoms? Tiredness, UTI's, colds, shortness of breath?
If so, I'd see your GP for a blood test. I thought recurrent angular cheilitis could be a sign of anaemia, diabetes or other deficiency such as Vit D. If you don't eat much fruit/veg, are you getting any Vit C- other than from synthetic vitamins?
Definitely see the pharmacist firstly, but consider the GP if not improving.

Have you tried something like lansinoh? I would try that religiously for a few weeks, multiple times per day but especially last thing at night and first thing in the morning. Then go to the chemist for something else if it doesn't work.

Hydrocortisone cream or ointment 👍

Interesting but I have recently been told my Vit D deficiency is back to sub optimal. As a brown woman living in UK this has been a long struggle and I’m already (if I remember rather than forget for months) on a high ish dose of 4000 iu a day, but I didn’t take any for months when life got on top of me and bloods in March revealed the deficiency.

Fruit and veg lacking won’t be good for health in general.

More water in the evenings?

My grandmother had this and doctor said vit d deficiency and to take a supplement.

I understand the optimal fruit and veg is 10 a day and 30 kinds a week apparently but we’ve all got to start looking after ourselves somewhere. If the “somewhere to start” for me is 5 a day (I understand this isn’t enough) - what are the fruit and veg I should prioritise asap and where would you fit them in? Life with work and 2 smalls and as I said recent sever international travel necessitated by aging parents half the world away and trave for work also upcoming.

What is the basic, simplest somewhere-to-start 5 a day you’d recommend ?

Orange juice is an easy one
Im thinking then something green x 2
something bright red/orange x 2
Berries

Would this be a good somewhere-to-start?

ive probably over stated the absence of fruit and veg. Family dinners always have two veg and I eat a lot of siad veg and we have OJ with the dinner so there’s 3 already. Far far from enough.

Only thing that stops mine is high powered vitamin B drops from Holland and Barrett

Minute I stop taking them it comes back

www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-high-strength-vitamin-b-complex-60ml-liquid-6100155634

Just eat two pieces of fruit per day. Have them for breakfast sliced up.

I also get this regularly and tried Savlon etc to be ineffective - pharmacist suggested Fucidin which works really well for me.

Low iron levels can cause this too
A good supplement with iron included would help

Do you snore / drool a lot in your sleep? I get reoccurring AC and sinus issues and when the sinus issues are worse and I snore / drool I get it because of the saliva in the corners of my mouth. Fungal cream will treat the symptoms but not the cause. Vit B levels can be an issue too, and a mouth guard when sleeping helps me. Its such a pain, I'm suffering ATM too. Lip balm in corners as a barrier too helps.

I’ve got no evidence of snoring or drooling so not sure! DH hasn’t mentioned anything ever so I wouldn’t know if I snore/drool…..

It is a sign of anaemia, I had it and started eating spinach three times a day which wasn't my favourite food but bette than supppements and that's sorted it out

It's often caused by a folic acid deficiency. I get it sometimes. I put a TINY like half a grain of rice size blob of canesten on it before I go to bed for a couple of nights and it goes. And I use a high dose folic acid supplement for a few weeks.

Just getting over the same. It was my dentist who noticed how bad it was and told me it was likely a b vitamin deficiency, particularly b12. It cleared after a few weeks of high dose supplements.

Unless you wear dentures angular cheilitis is not something treated by just by application of medicine/ointment etc because it is a symptom of a deficiency . You will need to see a gp and have a full blood count to determine what the deficiency is .

Exactly the same for thrush in adults , unless you wear a denture , thrush should not be treated on its own , it is a sign either of suppressing normal oral bacteria (ie antibiotics ) or deficiency that needs investigating.

If you wear dentures you need to take them out at night, every night , and soak in COLD water and Milton's or similar (hot water will bleach and weaken dentures). You may need new dentures because angular cheilitis is often caused when dentures wear down too much and face "collapses " in.

Had this issue with teen dc for many months, had several useless appointments to the GP who gave many different creams to try. They'd work temporarily then it would return. I researched it and found the most common reason was lack of vitamins. I bought high strength B12 (1000ug), high strength vit D, and vit C with zinc. Since taking these daily it's gone away and doesn't seem to be returning even after months. It was really starting to get dc down so I understand how horrible it is, possibly worth you giving the vitamins a try.

Can be a symptom of low iron.

Strongly recommend against hydrocortisone as it can trigger perioral dermatitis (happened to me).

Fucidic acid/fuicidin. Works within two days for me
Plus using a non sls toothpaste.

A tiny bit of honey (ideally manuka) applied topically + vit B supplements works for me. I don’t get it badly though. Good luck with finding what works for you and hope you feel better soon.

Obviously do follow up on the possibility of deficiencies, but I find Blistex medicated ointment works wonders for this (not the regular lip balm, the pungent ointment in the little metal tube).