How to Prevent and Treat Chapped Lips

Dr. Goldenberg discusses how to prevent and treat chapped lips on Endless Beauty.

What causes chapped lips and how can I prevent them?
Dry or chapped lips can be caused by several things, such as cold weather, constant lip licking, lip picking and an allergic reaction. Dry and cold weather can absorb the moisture from your lips, leaving them dry and chapped. Lip licking, essentially does the same. Sometimes, dry and chapped lips can be due to an allergy. Common allergens that cause dry and chapped lips are fluoride, which is found in toothpaste and chewing gum, perfumes or preservatives in make up and lipstick, and foods, such as shellfish and mango.

How do I treat chapped lips?
For patients with dry and chapped lips I recommend several things: if there is an allergy, it’s important to avoid that substance; my favorite lip moisturizer is Aquaphor healing ointment – it’s inexpensive and can be found in every drug store; I generally don’t recommend chapstick, especially flavored chapstick, since it may be a source of allergy.