Cheilitis, also known as chapped lips, is the medical term for inflamed lips. The condition is painful, and if the cracks are deep enough, the lips may bleed. The lips appear dry, scaly, inflamed, and cracked.
All ages of people can develop chapped lips.
Symptoms
The following are the most typical cheilitis “lip” symptoms:
- Dryness
- Redness
- Scaling or fissuring
- Tenderness
- Cracking or peeling
- Swelling (edema)
- Itching and burning sensation
- Angular cheilitis, which causes mouth corners to crunch,
- Lips that are brown to black in color (common in some forms of irritant contact cheilitis)
With exfoliative cheilitis, the lips may develop a thick layer of keratin scale; with glandular cheilitis, the lower lip thickens and develops tiny orifices (holes) through which saliva can be expressed.
Causes
There are different types of cheilitis, based on what causes them.
Eczematous Cheilitis
Eczematous cheilitis is the most prevalent type of cheilitis and can be brought on by exposure to allergens or irritants, as well as atopic diseases like eczema, hay fever, and asthma.
People with eczema frequently experience atopic cheilitis, which is frequently mistaken for allergic or irritant contact cheilitis.
When an allergen or irritant touches the lips, it can result in allergic or irritant contact cheilitis. Examples include:
- Lipstick or lip balms
- dental care items such as mouthwash and toothpaste
- Balsam of Peru, among other fragrances,3
- Rubber or latex products
- Formaldehyde is one of the ingredients in nail polish.
- Metals (such as gold, cobalt, or nickel)
- Several foods (such as cinnamon or mango)
- Several drugs, including neomycin and bacitracin
- Propylene glycol
- Chronic lip-licking
- climatic conditions, such as cold or wind
- Sunscreen4
Angular Cheilitis
Saliva gathers at the angles of the mouth, eventually resulting in dryness and cracking of the skin as the saliva dries up, and causes inflammation of the skin at the sides or “angles” of the mouth, which is known as angular cheilitis.Candida albicansbacteria, or less frequently “yeast,”Staphylococcus aureus(“Staph”), may then develop.
A vitamin B or iron deficiency, as well as diabetes and aging adults who wear dentures, are risk factors for developing angular cheilitis.4 This condition can also be brought on by medications that cause dryness, such as isotretinoin (formerly Accutane), which was used to treat acne.
Actinic Cheilitis
Actinic cheilitis, also known as solar cheilitis due to the long-term sun exposure that it results in, is a pre-cancerous condition (squamous cell carcinoma of the lip) that most frequently affects people with fair skin, as well as those who live in hot, dry climates and/or work outdoors, such as construction workers. Actinic cheilitis affects the lower lip more frequently than the upper lip.
Rare Types of Cheilitis
Although uncommon, there are additional forms of cheilitis.
- Possibly caused by repeated lip-licking or lip-biting is exfoliative cheilitis.
- Possible links between smoking, lip-biting, and sun exposure in the case of glandular cheilitis
- Experts believe that a combination of factors, including genes, infection, and food allergies, may be the cause of cheilitis granulomatosa, also known as Miescher’s cheilitis, which typically affects young adults.
Homoeopathic Treatment :
The course of treatment is determined by the likely cause.Homeopathyoffers a safe and effective method of treating Cheilitis in both acute and chronic conditions; supplements are obviously necessary in cases of vitamin deficiency.
In order to correct any immune system deviations, the homeopathic approach works to strengthen the body’s natural ability to heal.
Homoeopathic Medicine
Cundurango – For Painful Cracks at Corners of the Mouth
Cundurango, a top-notch treatment for angular cheilitis, is made from the dried bark of the condor plant, a member of the Asclepiadaceae family of plants. It works wonders when there are painful cracks at the corners of the mouth, which can be quite deep and, in some cases, ulcerated.
Graphites – When Corners of Mouth are Dry, Rough, with Cuts
In addition to treating cases with eruptions, crusting, or ulcers at the mouth corners that have a watery, sticky, gluey discharge, graphites is a great medicine to treat cases where the corners of the mouth are extremely dry, rough, and have deep cuts; these corners are highly cracked and fissured; and in many cases, dryness, cracked lips, and a persistent burning sensation are also present with the corners.
Petroleum – When Deep Cracks Bleed
Petroleum is used in cases of angular stomatitis when there are deep cracks at the corners of the mouth that bleed frequently, along with rough, thick, and hardened skin; the condition is worse in cold weather; crusts at the corners of the mouth that have redness, burning, itching, and bleeding; and eruptions at the corners of the mouth that have scaliness.
Natrum Mur – For Blisters at Mouth Angle
Natrum Mur is an effective treatment for angular cheilitis, a condition marked by blisters at the mouth’s angle, as well as dry, ulcerated, and occasionally cracked lips and mouth corners, as well as scabs on the lips that occasionally have a burning, smarting sensation and bleed.
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