Chapped lips or Cracked lips is a condition whereby the lip

Lip

Lips are a visible body part at the mouth of humans and many animals. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech...

s become dry and possibly cracked. It may be caused by the evaporation of moisture. Often the lips become dry because the layer of oil that is naturally produced by the body to coat the lips is removed or is lacking. Causes vary, but the most common cause of chapped lips is due to cold weather conditions.

Symptoms

Symptoms of chapped lips may include the lips being dry, red and swollen, small cracks, and peeling of the skin on the lips. If the skin on chapped lips becomes extremely dry, stretching of the lips may cause large cracks, which may be painful and/or bleed.

Cause

The main cause of this problem is the absence of moisture from the lips, which can make them dry out very quickly, leaving them chapped. This happens often in the winter season when the air is dry. Lips normally have a very thin oily film on their surface that provides natural protection against moisture loss. However, in some cases, this film is removed, sometimes due to excessive licking habits, and this causes the lips to become chapped.

Treatments

Lip balm

Lip balm

Lip balm or lip salve is a wax-like substance applied topically to the lips of the mouth to relieve chapped or dry lips, angular cheilitis, stomatitis, or cold sores. Lip balm often contains beeswax or carnauba wax, camphor, cetyl alcohol, lanolin, paraffin, and petrolatum, among other ingredients...

 can provide temporary relief. It is often believed that petroleum jelly

Petroleum jelly

Petroleum jelly, petrolatum, white petrolatum or soft paraffin, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons , originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties...

 can heal chapped lips, however it only aids in preventing moisture loss, but does not repair or penetrate the lips. Medical grade (USP

United States Pharmacopeia

The United States Pharmacopeia is the official pharmacopeia of the United States, published dually with the National Formulary as the USP-NF. The United States Pharmacopeial Convention is the nonprofit organization that owns the trademark and copyright to the USP-NF and publishes it every year...

) lanolin

Lanolin

Lanolin , also called Adeps Lanae, wool wax or wool grease, is a yellow waxy substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals. Most lanolin used by humans comes from domestic sheep...

 accelerates repair of lips and is used in some lip repair products. Certain enzymes present in saliva (normally used for digestion) irritate the lips, and the evaporation of the water in saliva saps moisture from them. For these reasons, licking one's lips should be avoided. Honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...

 has antibacterial properties which can help heal and soothe chapped lips. Nasal sebum may also be used as a remedy. Acidic drinks such as orange juice further irritate chapped lips and consumption of acidic drinks is advised against.

See also

• Angular cheilitis
  Angular cheilitis
  Angular cheilitis is an inflammatory lesion at the labial commissure, or corner of the mouth, and often occurs bilaterally. The condition manifests as deep cracks or splits...
  
  — a more severe condition involving an infection and deep cracking around the mouth.