How to Get Rid of Chapped Lips with Easy Home Remedies

Chapped lips are not at all nice to look at and are also very unhealthy. They are characterized by lips looking dry, flaky, sometimes with visible red splits and cracks on the lower lip. Chapped lips also look swollen and painful and may bring about bleeding whenever pressed or mistakenly coming into contact with them.

Very dry lips can lead toangular cheilitis, which is characterized by red flaky sores on either sides of your mouth. This condition may be as a result of deficiency of certain nutrients in the body. Besides being very painful when opening and closing the mouth, it is also very unattractive and may form ulcers.

The causes of chapped lips may vary but it is mainly due to lack of proper attention and care for our lips.

Having chapped lips mainly indicates lack of water in the body. Not drinking enough water causes the lips to become very dry with no moisture content and sometimes even painful cracks may appear and induce bleeding.

Chapped lips are also very common in winter. The exposure of the tender skin of the lips to very low temperatures, cold winds and frost results loss of the natural oils and moisture.

Also, eating a diet low on fatty acids may be the reason for dry, chapped lips. It is very important to have a balanced diet- and this includes foods that provide the necessary fat needed in your body. The sufficient fat for example, contained in dairy products, is very useful in the body as it is related in production of oils that keep your lips smooth and healthy.

Regular exfoliation may also remove the natural oils layering your lips, causing them to appear dry and flaky. So when exfoliating your face, avoid your lips so that you don’t intensify the dry condition of the chapped lips.

I suggest trying natural home remedies than using manufactured balms and all for a healthier and much faster relief. Try these simple effective remedies to get rid of chapped lips;

1. Drink Water; I’m just stating the obvious here, as chapped lips automatically mean that you lack water in your body. For some of us who really don’t fathom the idea of drinking water-I know some people like that-I suggest you take fluids, juices- on regular basis. Otherwise, drinking eight to nine glasses a day, will surely keep the chapped lips away.

2. Apply castor oil. This thick organic and nutritious oil will help lubricate your lips and the added nutrients will seep through the tissues and keep your lips looking soft and subtle. Keep a little vial of castor oil in your handbag or pocket. Always apply this oil to your lips using the tip of a clean, dry finger. Make sure to rub gently as you don’t want to create any more splits.

3. Coconut oil; Cold compressed coconut oil is one of the natural savers of severely chapped lips. Apply this oil regularly when waking up in the morning and going to bed at night.

4. Olive Oil; Using olive oil as a natural moisturizer and lubricant can work as an alternative for coconut oil. Aside from massaging it gently into your lips, this nourishing oil can also be mixed into water and taken as a drink for a natural cure, working from the inside.

5. Honey. Honey has a soft and smooth feel and this makes it a wonderful remedy to apply onto your lips. Rubbing honey gently to chapped lips helps them regain their moisture and retain natural oils leaving your lips looking soft and feeling smooth.

6. Cucumber; Aside from munching a cucumber whole or adding cucumber slices to your fresh salad, cucumber can also be gently rubbed on the lips for an immediate relief and cooling effect on dry lips.Try this with a single cucumber slice and enjoy its cooling relief on your dry lips.

7. Aloe Vera; Aloe Vera is an amazing healing agent for various physical ailments including chapped lips. It contains natural ingredients that may strengthen the thin protective oil layer covering the skin and heal the symptoms of dry lips. Apply aloe Vera gel to chapped dry lips regularly especially whenever you feel like licking your dry lips because it is a natural moisturizer with a soothing and cooling effect.

8. Healthy diet. Eating foods rich in vitamins and anti-oxidants like riboflavin and zinc may restore the natural oils that form a protective layer over the lips. Also, feeding on foods rich in vitamin E will also help heal cracks and sores in the chapped lips. You may pop in a few nuts, which are an excellent source of vitamin E to your fruit salad for a healthy relief.

9. Flax seed oil. Rubbing flax seed oil to the dry lips acts as a natural moisturizer and what’s more- flax seed oil has nourishing nutrients like fatty acids that sink into the spongy tissues of the lips and heal the dry lips, making them soft and plump again.

10. Make your own natural lip balm. During winter, we must take care of our lips by regularly applying balm and natural lubricants to prevent chaffing and chapping of lips. Why not creating your own lip balm using Mother Nature’s own ingredients?

Warm all these ingredients in a double boiler melt;two table spoons beeswax and a cup of lavender oil or rose oil. Stir the ingredients until beeswax is entirely melted. Remove from heat and add the essential oils, vitamin E and honey. Stir vigorously until all contents are merged together. Pour the ingredients into a small bowl and place the bowl into a tub of cold water. Keep stirring with other ingredients like; fruits extract or any other yummy flavor. Finally, pour your mixture into your lip balm container and allow it to settle. You may also use other ingredients of your preference- like almond oil or jojoba oil. You may also add color.

1. Don’t lick your lips. You may feel the need to lick your chapped and dry lips to moisten them but it might as well make them worse. Saliva contains sodium that dries up lips by absorbing the moisture. So the immediate drying up of your lips after you lick them actually causes them to get drier and it might even become an addictive habit for you to constantly keep licking.

2. Do not use chap-sticks. This is because chap-sticks contain alcohol and bits of petroleum that instead of healing the chapped lips ends up worsening them.

3. Stay away from spicy foods for a while. Eating spicy foods while nursing chapped lips is one big mistake as this further aggravates painful splits in the lips and gives a burning sensation that is absolutely indescribable. If you are a die-hard fan for spicy foods, then by all means go low about it because you don’t want to cause irritation on the raw splits and cracks.

4. Avoid lipsticks that contain no moisturizers; These lipsticks will cause chaffing of your lips and ultimately make them look worse than ever. They also contain artificial ingredients like menthol and the like that will interfere in your treatment of chapped lips.

5. Spare the coffees and sodas. This may be bad news for some people but ingredients like caffeine, sugars and sodium are key ingredients for these drinks and they actually dry out our lips by robbing moisture and keeping our bodies dry.

Chapped lips may be taken as a mild condition. But don’t just take them for granted as they may be a symptom of some underlying illness. In this case, if they still persist even after these remedies for getting rid of chapped lips, you must consult your doctor.