What causes chapped and peeling lips?

In winter, due to the cold and dry weather, many people have dry and peeling lips like in previous years. This not only causes lip inflammation but also causes mouth pain. So what causes dry lips in winter?

1. Dry weather and lack of water

Seasonality is common, especially in the dry season. The dry climate can easily cause chapped lips. The lips are mucous membranes without sweat glands or oil secretion function, so in the dry season, the lips will easily become dry, and at this time many people will lick or bite their lips with their tongues, but the moisture will quickly evaporate, taking away the already scarce moisture on the lips, causing the lips to become drier and drier and the more they lick their lips, creating a vicious cycle of drier lips, resulting in chapped and peeling lips.

Judgment criteria: Chapped lips caused by lack of moisture are manifested by the accumulation of dead skin on the lips or corners of the mouth.

2. Lack of vitamins in the body

Judgment criteria: If the corners of your mouth begin to crack and there is white secretion at the corners of your mouth, it is a sign of vitamin deficiency and you should pay attention to internal conditioning.

Chapped lips are related to the fact that people eat less fresh vegetables and do not take in enough B vitamins in their daily life. The red area around the human lips is called the "vermilion border". Its moisture is maintained by the local abundant capillaries and a small number of underdeveloped sebaceous glands.

Because the blood circulation of human skin and mucous membranes is poor in winter, if you eat less fresh vegetables, the body's intake of vitamin B2 and vitamin A will be insufficient, causing them to dry and crack.

3. Cheilitis

If you always feel chapped lips, it may be caused by vitamin B2 deficiency, indigestion, or chronic cheilitis. It is best to ask a doctor for help in diagnosis.

Cheilitis is often more common among young people. Some bad habits are the cause. Licking or biting the lips when they are dry will cause increased pain, lip bleeding, infection, difficulty in healing the wound, and repeated attacks, forming a vicious circle. After a few days of delay, it will develop into chronic cheilitis. Oral diseases can also cause chapped lips, so you should also pay attention to oral hygiene. If the lips are cracked and scabby and do not heal for a long time, you should go to the hospital for treatment in time.

4. Physical factors

People who are allergic to certain cosmetics or sunlight, people who have mood swings and are easily irritated, certain diseases (diabetes) that cause a decrease in the osmotic pressure of the body's tissue fluid, resulting in excessive drainage and lack of water in the tissue fluid, tobacco, alcohol, and spicy stimulation can all easily cause chapped lips.