Dry lips are a common problem. Find out here what causes there are and what you can do against dry lips.
Dry lips are often rough and cracked. This ensures unpleasant feelings of tension and can even become really painful. It becomes particularly bad when the lips burst and bleed.
The skin of the lips is much thinner and therefore more sensitive than the rest of the skin. It reacts faster to environmental influences or rather indicates that your body has come out of balance. However, the causes of dry lips are usually harmless and you can maintain dry lips with simple home remedies.
Dry lips: the most common causes
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / Pexels)
Dry lips have less to do with your skin type than with the fluid balance of your body. The lip skin has a few to no valley or sweat glands, which otherwise keep the skin supple through its secretion.
Different causes can lead to dry lips:
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Too low fluid intake: If you don’t drink enough, your fluid balance gets into the imbalance. On the one hand, this can be because you basically consume too little water. But also through strong sweating, for example in sports, you lose a lot of liquid. The same applies to diarrhea. If you have very dry lips, make sure to drink more.
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Lack of nutrients: Above all, a lack of vitamin B2 and the trace element iron can lead to dry lips. You can recognize a vitamin B2 deficiency, among other things, by torn mouth angles. The most affected vegetarians are affected: inside and vegans: inside, because the vitamin occurs primarily in meat, fish or milk. An iron deficiency can occur, among other things, by one -sided nutrition. Anyone who has a monthly menstrual period has a higher need for iron. You recognize a deficiency by the fact that the skin is pale and dry. You also feel tired and limp.
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Infections: With fever or herpes infection, the lips can dry out. (By the way: there are home remedies for herpes.)
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Chemotherapy are immense stress for the body. The mucous membranes in the mouth also suffer. This can cause inflammation and dry out the lips.
External circumstances that can cause dry lips
The face is mostly exposed to wind and weather. This can also lead to dry lips in the long run. But stress can also cause the lips to dry out. The Medical Portal NetDoktor explains that the skin of the lips is very thin – so thin that you see the blood through shimmering through the blood. A protective cornea is also missing.
These external circumstances can favor dry lips:
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Weather conditions: The weather can heavily claim our lips. Our lips dry out particularly high and particularly low temperatures. Cold wind can withdraw moisture to the skin. In winter, the heating air of the skin also increases. During this time of year, many fight with dry hands or dry facial skin.
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Too much sun: Netdoktor points out that the lip skin does not have protective pigments. The sun’s UV rays can dry out the lips and also cause sunburn. Always think of UV protection for your lips.
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Stress factors: Strong stress ensures that the body throttles less relevant functions to mobilize energy and sharpen the senses for potential dangers. The saliva production, which ensures that you decompose food and moisturize our mouthpiece, can decrease in the event of psychological stress.
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Too much care: If you regularly use products for lip care, this can quickly lead to a habituation effect. If you try to take off lip care, your body may react to it with dry lips. Stiftung Warentest tested various lip care pencils for questionable ingredients in 2023. Only a few still contain questionable mineral oils. You can also make a lip balm from natural ingredients yourself.
So you can prevent dry lips
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / Pexels)
You can prevent dry lips with healthy habits and simple measures.
Tips for a balanced moisture balance in the body:
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Drink enough: be careful to consume enough liquid. Drink mainly water and unsweetened herbal teas. To protect the environment and avoid plastic waste, you can almost always drink tap water in Germany.
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Balanced and healthy eating: If you eat vegetarian or vegan, you can obtain most nutrients from plant sources. Vitamin B2 is, for example, in kale, peas or broccoli. Vegetable iron sources include lenses, sesame, turmeric or pumpkin seeds. Incidentally, you can promote the absorption of iron by adding vitamin C. Caffeine in coffee or tea in black tea, on the other hand, inhibit the absorption of the trace element.
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Reduce stress: If you suffer from persistent stress, relaxation techniques can solve your tension. For example, try out whether you feel more relaxed through meditation, yoga or other sports. (Tip: This is how you find the right sport.)
Care for dry lips:
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Lip cream: care for your lips with the right products. Make sure you don’t seal your lips. You should be rich in valuable oils to support and maintain the smoothness of the lips. You can find out more about lip balm in our guide.
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Lip peeling: If the lips are already dry and rough, a lip peeling can smooth the skin again. You can mix it yourself, for example with honey and sugar for the peeling effect.
Read more on utopia.de:
- Lip care test: Öko-Test warns of carcinogenic fabrics in lip care products
- Torn corners of mouth – you can do that against it
- So you protect yourself from hypothermia in winter
English version Available: 5 Natural and Effective Home Remedies for Dry Lips
Revised by Martina Naumann
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