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Medical Video: Best Lip Balm? (The One With No Toxic Ingredients)
The main beauty principle that is held firmly by a million people is that dry and cracked lips are an unattractive appearance. This is probably why some people feel dependent on lip balm and "addicted", or at least accustomed to, with soft and soft lip sensations - which means you will tend to apply more products on every occasion, again and again.
But, are you curious about what can happen when you often lick lip balm and then swallow it? Can these habits really cause cancer as many people believe?
Constantly licking the lips makes it drier
Licking lip balm is tempting because it tastes good. But this instant gratification really isn't worth keeping. The habit of licking your lips will actually make your lips dry.
Your saliva contains salt and all kinds of compounds other than water that are intended to help the process of digesting food. Lips are usually protected by a thin layer of oil that serves to trap moisture. When you lick lip balm, the saliva that sticks to the surface of the lips begins to evaporate and brings along a number of natural lipids, even though the process is slow. The more often you lick your lips, the more natural lip protection oil that goes up.
Without the protection of this natural oil, the surface of the lips will easily dry out and crack if exposed to cold, dry, wind, or sunlight. Licking your lips is an endless vicious cycle: you feel your lips dry (plus the temptation to taste a good lip balm) so you are compelled to lick your lips. Licking your lips makes your lips dry, so you add a lip balm, lick it back, and so on.
But the risk of licking lip balm is not only this, because ...
Some ingredients in lip balm may not be consumed, intentionally or not
The rumor that lip balm contains a dangerous cancer-causing agent is proven to be untrue. But there is one reason why you rarely see menthol, bees wax, phenol, lanolin, salicylic acid, and para-aminobenzoic acid in your favorite lip moisturizing products. Lip balm containing para-aminobenzoic acid is slightly toxic - still within tolerance - if ingested in small amounts such as when accidentally tasting or licking it once in a while.
Ironically, you can experience lip balm poisoning from the habit of licking lip balm too much and often - especially if intentional. This poisoning results from an overdose of para-aminobenzoic acid. Para-aminobenzoic acid is a natural substance that can absorb ultraviolet (UV) light; often found in skin sunscreen products, including lip moisturizers that contain sunscreen.
Symptoms of lip balm poisoning can include diarrhea, eye irritation (if the product touches the eye), intestinal blockage, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath (with very high doses). If you have an allergy to coloring or perfume in lip moisturizer, you can experience swelling of the tongue and throat, wheezing, and difficulty breathing. Fortunately, the amount you consume from licking lip balm occasionally will not give you much loss
"Until now there have been no cases of extreme lip balm poisoning, other than possible complaints of normal stomach pain," explained Arleen K. Lamba, MD, medical director at the Maryland Blush Med Institute, reported from Shape. "But, these ingredients are not intended to be consumed regularly or in large quantities," Lamba closed.
This information only applies to extremely extreme swallowing cases. If you swallow more than one fist at a time, show symptoms of a severe allergic reaction, or if you are unsure of the right substance or the amount ingested, contact the emergency department (118/119) for specific recommendations in your situation.
READ ALSO:
- 6 Habits for Dry and Chapped Lips
- How to make natural lip scrub for a softer lip
- Some Diseases Marked By Broken Lips
