The lips’ skin tends to grow entirely in 2 – 3 weeks and will be back to being plumper lips if proper care is being taken. Chapped lips happen due to many reasons like frequent lip licking, lack of use of lip balms, sun damage, yeast infection, extremely dry weather, salty or spicy food, decrease in water intake, and vitamin deficiency.
Chapped lips can be painful and quite annoying, especially if you’re someone who loves to wear lipsticks. The lipstick can look patchy, with dry flakes attached to the lips, and honestly, it doesn’t look good at all, hon.
Does the skin on your lips grow back?
Yes, they do. If you stop biting or licking your lips and take steps to protect, heal, and treat your lips, then the skin on your lips tends to grow back in 2-3 weeks, meaning your lips will be back to the usual looking within these weeks.
Since I was a kid, I have had this habit of licking and biting the skin off my lips. Well, it wasn’t much of a problem because there’s a good amount of collagen production in bodies aging young. So, my lips always tend to stay plump and healthy.
But as I grew, with age, the collagen production reduced. So, then, when I bit off the skin of my lips, they were painful, sometimes bleeding, and looked terrible. The irony was that I was advised to use Vaseline to heal my lips. It was only later that I realized that Vaseline is occlusive.
Occlusives, in simple term, only knows how to hold in moisture. While, on the other hand, humectants are what you need, which tends to draw moisture from the surroundings.
When you apply Vaseline on dry, flaky, and chapped lips, it does nothing other than create a protective barrier. It wouldn’t moisturize your lips nor heal them. So, under that Vaseline, your lips are still dehydrated, not moisturized, and unhealed.
On the other hand, lip balms, which contain ingredients like argan oil and shea butter, heal chappy, flaky lips and help moisturize them.
Reasons why you have chapped lips
1. Dehydration
Whether it’s winter or extreme summers, or the fact that you don’t drink enough water, or the culmination of all these factors can make you end up with dry, chapped lips.
It’s vital that you protect your lips against harsh weather at all times, and if not prevention, then take adequate measures to heal them first.
Use a good lip balm brand, but note that it doesn’t only give temporary solutions; instead, it heals your lips. Although “drink a minimum 8 glasses of water” is considered less by many doctors, you should always aim to drink at least 10 cups of 8oz of water.
2. Yeast infection
You thought yeast infection is only limited to gynecology? Well, no. When you lick your cracked lips too much, the moist saliva makes way for bacteria to settle in those wounds, resulting in yeast infection.
Yeast infection happens when there’s fungal growth in your mouth, especially if you have cracked lips in the corners of your mouth.
The symptoms include pain while swallowing, white patches in your mouth or lips, or a cotton-like feeling lingering in your mouth. Consult your dermatologist if these symptoms occur.
3. Sun damage
SPF!! We need to use SPF. Unfortunately, no matter how much emphasis is put on global warming and sun damage, people still tend to ignore sunscreen with enough SPF.
Even if you’re using sunscreen that protects your face and body, never ignore your lips. The skin on your lips is too thin and can get sun damaged if you don’t use a lip balm with enough SPF.
Long-term exposure does make the lips stiff and extremely dry, resulting in chapped or cracked lips.
4. Vitamin deficiency
Vitamin B helps your body fight off diseases, increases your immune system, and gives you energy. If your body is devoid or lacks Vitamin B, you have issues like dry skin.
Dry skin can include your body and also your lips. So, eat foods rich in Vitamin B like cheese, lean meat, eggs, fish, and dark green vegetables.
5. Salty or spicy food
If your lips are exposed to too much salt or spice, then your lips can become dry.
Have you noticed if you eat something too spicy and finish the whole meal, your lips and the corners of your mouth become extremely dry? This also happens when you sip a margarita with salt on the rim, and you might find your lips feel dry.
So, the best way to avoid this is to try to consume such food or drinks with the least possible contact with your lips.
Along with salty and spicy food, you might even have allergic reactions to certain foods. So, if you find yourself getting a response, a dry mouth, wheezing symptoms, or a skin rash, you might be having an allergic reaction to a food you consumed before.
How to treat chapped lips
- Exfoliate your lips. You can gently brush your lips with a toothbrush, or you can mix little honey and sugar and gently rub your lips to remove the dead skin off them.
- Apply a lip mask or a lip balm every night before sleeping. Make sure to apply it on the peripheral border of your lips too.
- Avoid lip balms with fragrance, perfume, alcohol, salicylic acid, or artificial colors.
- Apply jojoba oil, or coconut oil, or argan oil to moisturize your lips.
- Avoid liquid lipsticks or drying lipsticks for a while. Apply a thick lip balm underneath it to protect your lips from further drying if you want to use it.
- Apply Vaseline on top of your lip balm to create a protective barrier over your lips.
- Avoid chewing gums or applying lip balms that have ingredients like mint, cinnamon, or menthol.
- Stop the habit of picking on the skin of your lips or licking your lips.
- Last but not least- Give your lips time and patience to heal and don’t try too much at the same time.
FAQs
What color should your lips be?
The color of your lips can range in color from very light pink to brown. Your lips, unlike the rest of your body, are very thin. So, this allows the color from the underlying blood vessels to show through your lips.
The different colors of lips also depend on the color of your skin too. The lighter your skin color, the lighter the skin tissue of your lips will be, resulting in the blood vessels appearing more prominently.
Do lips recover after you quit smoking?
Yes, after you quit smoking, give your lips a little time to heal correctly. Consult your dermatologist if you wish to restore your lips to their natural color.
Final thoughts
So, I think to summarize the whole article for you- don’t lick your lips, use a lip balm that has SPF in it, and drink plenty of water.
You also need to have the patience to give time for your lips to heal, the determination that you would stop picking your lips if you used to, and a promise that along with your skincare, you’ll take care of those precious lips too.
Meanwhile, comment down below, what is your skincare regime, and which is your favorite lip balm so far!
