Causes of Dry Chapped Lips
A lot of people suffer from the problem of chapped lips. The skin in almost all parts of the body produces natural oils which help to protect these same parts from the outside elements like cold breeze, extreme heat or low humidity. However the lips do not have this ability to produce oils, hence they are prone to chapping. Other causes include too much exposure to windy conditions, infections, drugs, harsh soaps, allergies to certain cosmetics or chemicals. They also occur due to dehydration, riboflavin deficiencies or Vitamin B2 and ill fitting dentures. Cracked lips are prone to bleeding and appearing red and dried. They can also be embarrassing and uncomfortable, thus interfering with many of the daily activities like eating, smiling and talking. They become painful and in an endeavor to moisten the lips most people tend to lick them. This further dries them and is also said to make them darker.
Home Remedies for Dry Chapped Lips
Some of the most effective remedies to tackle this problem of chapped and dried lips include keeping one’s body well hydrated by drinking lots of fluids.
- Try applying butter or petroleum jelly before going to bed at night.
- Another good remedy includes soaking rose petals in milk and leaving overnight, and then crush them to form a paste. This can be applied on the lips and helps removing the dryness from the lips and further helps to make them pink.
- Try applying castor oil to the lips or grinding rose petals in glycerin. This helps the lips to retain the moisture and the color.
- Application of milk cream can help get rid of dead skin from the lips and thus keep them smooth.
- Another remedy which is very effective is to take a strip of the fleshy part of the aloe vera plant and apply this on the lips twice a day.
- Dryness of the lips can also occur due to a Vitamin A deficiency. Hence the diet should be supplemented with foods that are rich in Vitamin A like tomatoes, carrots, leafy green vegetables, legumes, nutritional yeast and whole grains.
- Try applying a mixture of a few drops of honey and teaspoon of glycerin to the lips and leave it overnight. This helps to soften the lips.
- Honey has a lot of nutritional benefits and is a great anti bacterial and healing agent.
- Coconut oil is also considered by some to be a good remedy in healing chapped lips. This can be applied several times in a day.
Tags: causes of chapped lips, chapped lips home remedies, home remedies for dry chapped lips, how to cure chapped lips, natural cures for chapped lips