How to Heal Chapped Lips
Dry lips are uncomfortable and unattractive. Once your lips become chapped they can be painful and you want to relieve them as quickly as possible. Although extremely common in winter ,chapped lips can occur anytime. Follow these steps to prevent and heal chapped lips. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Lip balm
- Scarf or jacket and humidifier in winter
- Healing ointment
- Zinc oxide ointment
Instructions
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Prevent lips from chapping in the first place if you can. Apply a lip balm throughout the day and avoid licking your lips. When in windy or cold conditions use a humidifier in your home and wear scarves or jackets to cover your lips when outside.
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Exfoliate your chapped lips. Use a toothbrush or warm wet washcloth and gently rub the dead skin away.
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Apply a healing ointment to your lips such as Neosporin. Do this when you will not be eating or drinking anything for at least an hour. Applying it right before bedtime is ideal.
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Use sunscreen and lip balm (or even better a product that does both) to your lips throughout the day. This keeps the moisture on your lips and helps them stay hydrated so they can heal.
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Change your water and vitamin intake. When you drink enough water your lips stay hydrated along with the rest of your body which prevents further cracks. Additionally if you aren't doing so already take a multivitamin daily. A lack of vitamin B and iron can also make lips crack.
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Avoid licking your lips. Instead reach for the balm again. Even though your lips may feel better at the moment, licking them actually dries them out more. At night you can also apply zinc oxide ointment so that in case you drool at night the saliva does not further chap your lips.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not over exfoliate your lips to the point that they bleed or become more cracked or it will prolong healing.
