What Does Cracked Lips Mean
When our body is not feeling well or is in nutrients deficiency, it will try to show us some signs and symptoms that can be seen on our bodies, such as our arms, our hair, and even our lips. Having noticed one symptom obviously does not just mean one thing, there are multiple causes that your body could mean. Here are some of the things your body is trying to tell you if you have dry lips.
1. Dehydration.
The most common cause for dry lips is obviously dehydration, as everyone should know. Our body is unlike our glands, which produces glands to keep them in a moist and hydrated state. When you are having dry lips, the first thing you need to do is to drink a whole lot of water to stop the cracking, and also make sure your surrounding is humid enough. If your house or office tends to be dry, try to keep a humidifier nearby to replenish your skin and your lips.
2. Allergies.
If you have cracked lips even though you drink a lot of water every day, that means you might be suffering from some allergy reaction. This could be caused by your lip products (such as your lip balm, lipstick etc), the food you just ate, or even your toothpaste. Stop using these products if they are making your lips worse and try to find other products that are gentler on your lips, or if it is caused by certain food, be sure to identify the food and to avoid it.
3. Too much sun exposure.
Just like our skin, our lips need love too. We need to make sure we are protecting them especially when we are out under the sun often. Don’t just assume it is caused by the summer weather where the sun is strong. Sometimes when you travel to a country during the winter, it is more likely for your lips to chap, as not only will the sunlight affect your lips, but these places are usually very low in humidity as well. Make sure you show your lips some love and keep them hydrated by either drinking more water or using lip balm.
4. Licking your lips too much.
When our lips are dry, we tend to lick them so they feel more hydrated, but in reality, doing this could worsen the condition. This can be soothing for a while, but as soon as your saliva evaporates from your lips, more moisture would escape from there and thus leaving your lips even drier. The same goes for biting or chewing your lips. If this is a habit of yours, try to stop the unhealthy habit. If your lips are feeling dry, drink more water or apply lip balm more often.
5. Vitamin deficiency.
Many symptoms can be seen in our body when we are lacking in a certain vitamin, and one of them would be dry lips. A very important vitamin in our body is vitamin B2, which helps the functioning of the cell, improves our metabolism, keeping our blood level in a healthy state and so much more. If you notice that you have dry lips and drinking lots of water doesn’t help, perhaps you need to eat more food that contains vitamin B6, such as eggs, lean meats, and most protein products, or take supplements for this vitamin.
6. Vitamin surplus.
Vitamin deficiency should be taken as seriously as a surplus of vitamins. A kind of vitamin you need to make sure you do not take too much is vitamin A. They are usually found in pills and supplements that help regulate things like your blood sugar, blood pressure, and so on. Make sure you are not consuming too many supplements unless necessary, or else they would leave your mouth feeling dry, and the pills would even show unhealthy side effects on your body.
7. Breathing through your mouth.
When you are having a cold, or you are out of breath, or you have any nose condition, you might breathe through your mouth a lot. And something that comes with this is cracked lips. This is because when you breathe through your mouth, moisture tends to escape from the surface of your lips, which would leave your lips feeling dry. If you really need to breathe through your mouth, just make sure your lips are well moisturized.
8. Some underlying diseases.
In more severe cases, dry lips could mean that you have an underlying disease that you do not know of. Some diseases that are highly associated with chapped lips would be diabetes or eczema, as they are more common, or some other more severe cause. If you have long-term chapped lips that don't seem to improve, it is better to look for a doctor and get your checked to make sure about your body’s condition.
Here are some causes that your body might want you to know when you have chapped lips. Everyone’s body reacts to different things differently, so do not assume you have a severe condition just because someone has, it might be you are not being hydrated enough. The most important thing is still to take good care of your body before these symptoms come to you, as prevention is better than cure.
*Disclaimer: The writer is not a trainer, bodybuilder or any health expert. The information given is all dependent on the research she had done and are considered to be appropriate to be up on this list. Do whatever you know best works for you, as you know yourself the best. Feel free to take the information you want and leave what you don’t. The writer would not be responsible for any medical issues that would happen due to the extracted information was shown.
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