Our lips are the gateway to our oral cavity, and can also offer signs to oral problems. These facts make it necessary to take special care of our lips. We’ve all had swollen, burned, or chapped lips in the past, and probably all agree that the situation is frustrating and painful. Whether you’re reading this to prevent this uncomfortable position or to treat it, we’ve got nine techniques and suggestions to keep your outer mouth moisturized and healthy.
Down Lots of H2O
This is good advice for your entire body, as our cells are primarily water. In fact, each of us ideally have over 65% of our body weight consisting of water, and 90% of our blood is as well. Keeping hydrated also keeps the tissue and skin of lips, as well as the mucous membrane of inner cheeks, tongue, and gums, plump and healthy. This means your lips are less likely to dry out or split. Water also helps keep bacteria and plaque from accumulating in the crevices of the mouth.
Take the Time to Moisturize
Once you’ve maintained a healthy level of hydration in the tissue of your lips, you need to keep it in the skin. Using natural moisturizers on your lips can seal the hydration in so they don’t chap. Pure, organic shea butter, emu butter, vitamin E oil, or coconut oil are all great options. It may seem strange to rub oil on your lips, but it will absorb into the skin just like lotion does. Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Asian cultures have been using oils for hundreds of years to hydrate and protect their lips, skin, and hair.
Keep the Air in Your Home More Humid
Use a humidifier to keep air moist and your body will absorb some of it as you breathe. Aim for 30-50% humidity level to help keep your lips and skin supple and smooth. This can be especially good when your lips are already chapped.
Protect Lips from the Elements by Covering Them
Extreme outdoor conditions can hurt your lips in two ways. First, external forces such as the wind or heat battle the outer layer of your lips. To combat this, use thicker lip balms or take advantage of scarves or other ways to cover them depending on the circumstances. This is perhaps why skiers or hikers chose to use a ski mask. Secondly, free radicals that make it into your body from these types of conditions can wreak havoc from inside your body. We’ll talk more about battling these lose cell canons below.
Avoid Vitamin Deficiency and Free Radical Damage
We mentioned free radicals in the extreme conditions section above because they can greatly affect your lips’ health. When dirty or harsh conditions allow free radicals into your body, they can steal precious nutrients from it. This can cause dry and deflated skin and lips.
What are free radicals? Essentially, they are unstable organic molecules looking for other molecules to bond with. When they find our cells and steal their electrons, it creates another free radical and the process continues in an unhealthy spiral that. In our lips, this means damaged or dying cells, and thus chapped lips. To battle free radicals, we need a healthy diet that includes produce rich in antioxidants such as grapes, berries, nuts, green leafy vegetables, fruits and vegetables with orange skins, and whole grains such as wheat bread and brown rice.
What else do all these foods have in common? Vitamins and minerals such as C, the full range of B, A, iron, and zinc. Vitamin deficiencies have also been linked to dry skin and pour lip conditions, so a supplement that keeps your vitamin intake high will also help chapped lips.
Seal in Moisture and Block Sun Rays
In addition to lip balm, lip sunscreen or petroleum jelly can both to seal in moisture. The sun has three types of rays. UVA rays make up 95% of solar radiation that get to earth, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. (Source: healthland.time.com.) That’s a lot of potential damage. The thick texture of lip sunscreen and petroleum jelly block not only the sun, but also retain the moisture you’ve drank. Many women prefer to use petroleum jelly at night to recover their lips from daily cosmetic use.
Don’t Lick or Chew on Lips
A fairly common nervous habit is licking or chewing on the dying skin of chapped lips. This is a major problem, as it removes the lips’ natural covering and makes them susceptible to further cracking. If you find yourself doing this, work on reducing it or use butters, oils, sunscreen or petroleum jelly and rub your lips together instead. Keeping these items handy in your pocket or purse can be a great reminder.
Breathe through your nose
When you breathe through your mouth, all the air moving over the lips tend to dry them out and make them susceptible to free radicals and pollution. To avoid chapping lips with air flow, train yourself to breathe more through your nose. Additionally, snoring is a major concern for the health of your lips, since snoring tends to pull the air into your mouth quicker than regular breathing. Using nasal strips or a humidifier at night can aid in opening up sinus passages and breathing through them as you sleep.
Take Note of Risk in Medications
Some medications may have side effects that can dry out your lips and dehydrate your body. Examples include diuretics, which increase your urine output, and some prescribed for blood pressure. If the label warns of diarrhea or vomiting, there’s a chance it can dry out your body, lips included.
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