Badly chapped lips - this is terrible!

[Funnylittlefloozie]

I'm only slightly joking - my lips are a nice shape, I get compliments about them, they are one of my nicer features. BUT, they are suddenly so painful. They are chapped, peeling, cracking at the corners of my mouth. It is not good.

What treatment is good for sore chapped lips? I use Carmex and the orange O'Keefes lip balm at the moment and they are ok, but not great. I'm willing to try anything (at pretty much any cost) if it will stop the cracking and peeling.

Also, I love lipstick. I think my lipstick is making it worse. Can anyone recommend a really moisturising lippy; again, I am not too concerned about price at this stage. I wear long-wear cheap stuff (rimmed, maybelline) for work, and Mac and Estee Lauder type stuff for fun. Everything just dries out my lips.

I drink LOADS of water, btw, so I'm sure that's not the magic answer.

Also second the multivitamins - my lips crack at the corners if I stop taking them

Is it possible you've developed an allergy to the brand you're using?

@TiredButDancing Thank you! Labello is the best lip balm I ever tried, but I'd not seen it in years. I'm going to stock up. Inexplicably my favourite one is listed as "Labello Velvet Rose Vibrator" and at £1.48 I'm sure there's been a typo...

You haven't switched to a new toothpaste recently have you?

I suffered from angular cheilitis on and off for about five years and eventually figured out it was SLS in toothpaste that was the cause of mine.

And as others have mentioned, it could also be a vitamin B deficiency, which is a much more commonly mentioned cause.

Bepanthan

I swear by bepanthan and vitamin b also Superdrug sell a little tin of their own brand medicated lip salve which is magic and great for being out and about.

I use Burt Bees lip balm and when the corners are a bit sore/cracked i use a tiny bit of savlon cream.

@ILoveShula

I'd take an A-Z multivitamin *@Funnylittlefloozie*, it's probably a sign that you are run down.

I agree, pretty sure its a sign of deficiency though I can't remember what. I know a pp suggest B but Magnesium also comes to mind?

Elizabeth Arden eight hour cream. Wonderful - can also be used on eczema and sunburn. Not cheap but worth every penny.

I went through this 2 years ago. My lips were so chapped, peeling and really sore. I spent an absolute fortune on every product listed above ans nothing worked. I didn't think it was worthy of a gp appointment but after months of struggling with them I went to the gp and he prescribed me a steroid cream which sorted the problem in 2 days!!

Try Aquaphor Lip Repair, I’ve been suffering with cracked mouth corners recently and this is the only product that has been effective.

It didn’t clear up overnight but was sooo much better the next morning. I’m using it as much as possible throughout the day too-hoping to be completely cleared up in next few days.

Another bepanthen fan

I swear by pawpaw, love it. You've actually helped me out because I had no idea Holland and barret sell it.

www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/dr-pawpaw-ultimate-red-balm-60041602?skuid=041602&utm_campaign=shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&gclid=CjwKCAjwoZWHBhBgEiwAiMN66U8QfsKJxYl_LsAbhCYheoLSbJGuCKrTLUdwOwOGqq18h2k9RoK15BoC32cQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I recently had this and used Hydrogen peroxide on the corners of my mouth for a few days. It scabbed over and seems to be healing now. I have recently changed toothpaste and hadn't bought B vitamins in a while, either/or could have caused it. I also phoned the chemist but he said he'd have to see it to recommend a product, so I cba to go and put on HP. I use Eos lip balm now and again but for me, it's getting enough vitamins and staying hydrated regarding chapped lips.

Blistex, magic stuff.

I got this when I changed to a new toothpaste. It was awful. Nothing worked to relieve it. I then went back to my old toothpaste and it healed within days. Could it be that?

A friend ended up at the doctor with her sore, chapped and cracked lips. Turned out she had developed an allergy to her lip salve.

I’ve tried pretty much everything recommended here, and the only thing I use now is Aquaphor (a pound has mentioned it). I buy it on Amazon. It is cheap, but I’d pay ££ for it. It really heals.

a pp

Toothpaste can be bad for causing sore lips. I remember someone saying years ago that C**te was particularly bad for it.

This is fab:

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Intensive Lip Repair Balm www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EU8A49K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_SBHKR7H8Q0WBTZ5684F3?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Cheap but excellent & all natural:

MooGoo Cow Lick Lip Balm www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NJRKD7G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_93RF8C2GZPANG6PAW8W8?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Does sound like chelitis, I used to get this - it was an allergy to fizzy water! If lip balms don’t help it’s quite likely you have it.

This helped me more than any of the more greasy things
This

Lypsil, generally £1 a pop, is my magic go to, and like another poster said much better that a number of others. Tesco used to sell it.

I read somewhere, many years ago, that you should avoid mineral oils on your skin if possible, as they are a reasonably good barrier, but provide little other benefit. But, depending on your skin type, they can be irritant or can actively inhibit your skin from producing sufficient natural oil of its own, which means your skin feels continually dry, so you keep applying the product, leading to a vicious circle effect. In contrast, products using natural oils or waxes - beeswax, castor oil, Shea butter, various nut oils, etc, don’t have nearly such a strong effect on the skin’s ability to moisturise itself.
Same goes for hand cream, body lotion, etc. Look for ones free of mineral oils if you can, if you have dry skin. It’s a decent barrier ingredient, but it doesn’t actually help the skin in its own right.

Bacitracin ointment has really helped me.