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How to Soothe Cracked Lip Corners and Keep your Lips Feeling Smooth, Supple, and Hydrated
What would you do if every single time you opened your mouth, you were met with searing, unimaginable pain? Every word you utter, every time you open up for a bite of food — don’t even think about yawning — the pain would be unbearable. Many people describe the pain of cracked lip corners as if their mouth is being sliced open wider every time they try to talk or take a bite of food. Then it becomes a vicious cycle. Dr. Jordan Webber, DDS, warns: “If the corners of the lips are already cracked and chapped, opening your mouth widely will cause discomfort and worsen the cracks. However, opening your mouth too wide isn’t the cause of the condition.” If you’ve never suffered from this condition and the acute pain that comes with it, don’t get too comfortable — cracked lip corners are incredibly common and can show up on anyone’s mouth. Luckily, cracked lip corners are also easy to treat and prevent if you know the right steps. Read on for tips to soothe cracked lip corners and tips to avoid getting them altogether.
What are Cracked Lip Corners?
“Cracked lip corners start with dryness and chapping,” says Dr. Leann Poston, a medical advisor for Impakt Fitness. “Plain and simply, dry lips crack,” adds Dr. Anthony Puopolo, the Chief Medical Officer of Rex MD. “The number one reason that you are experiencing cracked lip corners is dryness. Unfortunately, the more this happens, the more difficult to heal the issue. Additionally, a scabbed-over region is more likely to crack again.” Soon, dry lips become cracked lips, and those cracked lips can develop an infection called angular cheilitis.
What is Angular Cheilitis?
“Angular cheilitis is the name of a skin condition wherein the corners of the lips become inflamed, irritated, or cracked,” says Dr. Jordan Weber. First, saliva gets trapped in the corners of your dry lips. Then, the digestive enzymes in the saliva actually “eat” and break down the skin of your lips, leaving them dry and raw. Eventually, the dryness causes the raw lip corners to split open, which in itself is very painful. But it doesn’t stop there. Now your cracked lip corners are the perfect reservoir for saliva to pool and “create the perfect conditions for fungus and bacteria to grow and multiply and cause infection,” says wellness expert Meera Watts. The resulting bacterial or fungal infection is called angular cheilitis and, without treatment, it only gets more painful.
There are three infectious bacterial and fungal strains that cause angular cheilitis:
- Candida yeast is the fungus responsible for “athlete’s foot” and “diaper rash.” It is also the most common cause of angular cheilitis.
- Staphylococcus bacteria (maybe you’ve heard it called a staph infection) frequently shows up on the skin and, the majority of the time, is relatively harmless. But staph infections can be deadly if they enter your bloodstream and infect your bones, lungs, or heart.
- Streptococcus bacteria is the least common cause of cracked lip corners, but probably gave you strep throat at least once when you were a kid.
Angular cheilitis will leave your lip corners chapped, inflamed, and, at times, crusted. Because of this, dermatology student David Gray says: “It is often confused with cold sores. The big difference is that cold sores are contagious whereas angular cheilitis is not.” But angular cheilitis can be just as unsightly as cold sores, not to mention incredibly painful.
“Angular cheilitis, cracked lip corners, are more common in the very old and very young,” points out Dr. Leann Poston. “ Wearing dentures and sagging skin at the mouth corners increases the risk of saliva leakage onto the skin as can using pacifiers and drooling,” which makes babies and older populations more susceptible. Luckily, if you suffer from this excruciating ailment, know that it is treatable. And we’re here to help show you how!
How to Treat Angular Cheilitis
“Angular cheilitis can be treated with the use of skin ointments, medication, or even an improvement of diet,” says David Gray. We’ll get to diet changes later, that’s a long-term solution. If you’re in pain from cracked lip corners, you need an instant solution. And that instant solution is ointment. But here’s the rub: angular cheilitis is either fungal or bacterial. Each one needs its own ointment, and there’s no way to tell which one you have by looking. To cover your bases, get both an antifungal ointment and an antibiotic ointment — both of which are available over the counter — and gently dab both creams onto your cracked lip corners to ensure you knock out the infection. That will clear up your angular cheilitis, but if you want to prevent it from ever happening in the first place, you need to begin at the beginning, and that’s dryness.
An important note: if you’re someone who’s prone to cracked lip corners and angular cheilitis, the best first step is to consult with your doctor about treatment options. A doctor can prescribe medication and can help identify warning signs of a more serious underlying issue.
Two Main Causes of Dry Lips
Dryness is caused by several factors. The number one reason your lips are dry is most likely due to dehydration. Water keeps every part of your body lubricated and functioning properly, and that includes your lips. Hydrated lips are far less likely to chap and crack, and there are two factors dehydrating your lips that you may be overlooking:
#1: Saliva
“Angular cheilitis starts with saliva leakage,” declares Dr. Poston. It is a common habit to lick your lips when they’re feeling dry. The problem is, saliva in itself is very drying. The temporary moisture licking your lips might give you will immediately dry, further drying your lips along with it. Even if you’re not a lip licker, saliva can still collect in your lip corners and the digestive enzymes in saliva can actually start breaking down or “eating” your lip skin — leading to more dryness, chapping, and cracks.
While it’s not realistic to expect to you to keep every droplet of saliva off your lips for the rest of your life, you can prevent excessive saliva from drying out your lips by avoiding these common habits:
- Licking your lips
- Biting your nails
- Smoking
- Breathing out of your mouth
- Sucking on lollipops, pens, fingers, etc…
All of these actions bring more saliva to your lips and the corners of your mouth, and more saliva on your lips and the corners of your mouth makes you more susceptible to cracked lip corners.
#2: Irritants
Have you ever applied lip balm to your chapped lips only to find them chapped again a couple hours later? Check your balm’s ingredients. Many lip balms use chemicals that seem to soothe at first – but actually dry your lips out in the long run. Avoid any lip product with salicylic acid, menthol, phenol, camphor, and/or added fragrances. But that’s not all you need to look out for. Some lip balms can become a severe irritant as they degrade over time, so check your lip balm’s expiration date along with the ingredients. If your lip balm contains an irritant, no matter how much you apply to relieve your dry, chapped lips, the situation will only get worse, and your lips will become drier and drier.
How about a lip plumper? Have you ever applied one that left your lips stinging and burning? That’s an irritant. It may temporarily make your lips look swollen, but those irritants cause damage long after the swelling goes down. Very few lip plumpers on the market deliver volume without irritation. But one you can count on is City Lips. City Lips is an award-winning plumping gloss that uses Hyaluronic Acid (the “moisture molecule” that your body produces naturally), oligopeptides to support smoother-looking lips, and skin-loving conditioners like jojoba oil and ylang ylang flower oil. With City Lips, you can nourish your lips with ingredients that are good for you in the long term.
Stop Chapped Lips From Turning Into Cracked Lips
Chronically chapped lips are the steep slippery slope to cracked lip corners. Stopping chapped lips can be tough, especially if you’re using a lip balm with the hidden irritants listed above. Chapped lips also make it more difficult to deliver hydration where you need it. The hard, sometimes scaly, skin forms a physical barrier between any balm you’re applying and your lips that desperately need it. Along with a non-irritating lip balm, you should regularly exfoliate your lips. Lip exfoliation removes the dead skin cells that accumulate on the lips, stimulates blood flow — sending vital nutrients where you need them most — and clears the way to deliver hydration directly to your lips.
Our favorite lip exfoliation tip at City Beauty is the “Coffee Shop ‘Lip-Plumping’ Hack.” Next time you order your coffee, grab an extra packet of raw sugar, a coffee stirrer, our favorite City Lips in Clear, and follow the instructions below:
- Prep the end of the stir stick by running it under hot water, patting dry, then inserting it about halfway into the tube of City Lips. (You may need to twirl a few times.)
- Open the sugar packet and dip the gloss-coated stick into it. Swish the stick around a few times to combine the lip plumper + RAW sugar.
- Exfoliate your lips with the sugar/plumper combo and gently rub your lips together.
- Relax for 15 minutes, then wipe off the sugar and VOILA! Your perfectly smooth, plump-looking lips will be ready to take on the world.
Prevention
Ok, we got to the bottom of angular cheilitis, but Dr. Puopolo reminds us: “The next steps are prevention. One way to do this is to keep a humidifier in your home. For many, dry climates cause dry skin. Humidifying your home, especially while you sleep, can help cracked lips.” Sometimes a dental issue could cause more saliva to pool in the corners of your mouth and that can lead to angular cheilitis. Regular dental visits are another way to prevent cracked lip corners. Nurse practitioner Christine Patterson points out: “Cracked lip corners can be a common sign of iron deficiency.” Registered dietitian and nutritionist, Jeanette Kimszal, agrees. “There is some research that shows nutrient deficiencies may cause cracked lips and angular cheilitis. Not getting enough zinc, iron, and B vitamins (folate) B2, B6, and B12 may lead to this condition.” If you continue to suffer from cracked lip corners and angular cheilitis no matter how many ointments, lip balms, and other remedies you’ve tried, it’s possible your diet is making the situation worse.
Can What I Eat Affect My Cracked Lip Corners?
Short answer: yes…maybe. While nothing you eat will cause angular cheilitis, it could be caused by what you’re not eating. Zinc, iron, and B vitamin deficiencies have been linked to angular cheilitis. So if you’re not a big fan of the foods Jeanette Kimszal listed below, it’s possible you’ve got some vitamin deficiencies which could be contributing to your cracked lip corners.
Foods Rich in Zinc:
- Oysters
- Red meat
- Poultry
- Beans
- Nuts
- Crab
- Lobster
- Whole grains
- Dairy products
Foods Rich in B2:
- Eggs
- Organ Meats (kidneys and liver)
- Lean meats
- Milk
Foods Rich in Iron:
- Lean meat
- Seafood
- Nuts
- Beans
- Leafy green vegetables
Foods Rich in B6:
- Fish
- Beef Liver and other Organ Meats
- Potatoes and other starchy vegetables
- Non-citrus fruit
Food Rich in Folate:
- Dark green leafy vegetables
- Fruits
- Nuts
- Beans
- Peas
- Seafood
- Eggs
- Dairy products
- Meat
- Poultry
- Grains
Foods Rich in B12:
- Fish
- Meat
- Poultry
- Eggs
- Dairy products
But nurse practitioner, Christine Patterson, wants to remind you: “A person can be iron deficient due to a number of reasons: low dietary intake, poor absorption in the gut, or chronic slow bleeding.” So don’t be so quick to blame your diet; nutrient deficiencies could be a sign of a much bigger problem that should be “thoroughly evaluated with a licensed provider’s support through nutrition assessment, blood work and stool testing to look for the underlying cause.” In short, consult a doctor. Dr. Leann Poston wants to make sure you know “[angular cheilitis] is not from opening your mouth too wide or talking too much,” your skin isn’t ripping and cracking because it stretched too far — though, if you have cracked lip corners, it can certainly feel that way.
Consult a Doctor
While countless cases of angular cheilitis heal at home with the help of creams and ointments available at any pharmacy, if you have an infection that persists, get to a doctor. Dr. Jordan Weber warns that trying to fix a wound at home or ignoring it altogether “poses risk of infection, laceration, and further damage.” Don’t let a minor issue turn into a serious problem. When in doubt, consult a medical professional.
The Wrap Chap Up
If you know the pain that comes along with cracked lip corners, hopefully you learned some at-home tips to keep cracked lip corners at bay forever. And if you are among the lucky ones who have never suffered from this infection, hopefully you’ll recognize the early signs of angular cheilitis in case one day your luck runs out. In the very least, don’t forget to always keep a tube of City Lips handy…and maybe grab one for a pal who you think could use it!
Do you or a friend suffer from chronically chapped lips or cracked lip corners? Share this blog with them and kiss dry lips goodbye.
