Contents:
- Medical Video: What Causes Chapped Lips?
- Diseases and conditions that cause chapped lips
- 1. Pellagra
- 2. Angular cheilitis
- 3. Kawasaki disease
- 4. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- 5. Herpes
Medical Video: What Causes Chapped Lips?
Chapped lips can cause the skin on your lips to crack, peel and bleed. Everyone must have had cracked lips at certain times. But, did you know that cracked lips can also indicate certain underlying diseases or conditions that you don't know? In addition to lack of vitamins, dehydration, and using the wrong toothpaste, it turns out there are several other causes of chapped lips that are far more serious. If home remedies and lip balm not helpful, then you might suffer from the following diseases.
Diseases and conditions that cause chapped lips
1. Pellagra
Pellagra is caused by a lack of intake of niacin or vitamin B3. It is usually characterized by diarrhea, mental disorder, and dermatitis. If left untreated, this condition can cause death. Pellagra can occur because the body does not receive enough amounts of niacin or has a chronic condition such as ulcerati, which prevents your body from getting niacin. This condition can affect the lips, tongue and gums. Your skin will thicken and harden, resulting in cracks and bleeding. This condition can be treated by taking oral and intravenous niacin, you can also take vitamin B3 supplements as a supplement. However secondary pellagra arising from chronic conditions is difficult to treat.
2. Angular cheilitis
This is a common inflammatory condition that affects the corners of your mouth. This condition can cause several factors such as chapped lips, bleeding on the lips, blisters, and redness. Generally, those who have sensitive skin, parents, and malnourished people are most at risk of developing this condition. Licking your lips in the hope of restoring moisture will only make the condition worse, because your saliva quickly evaporates on your lips and it will make your lips drier. You might need to apply lip balm or use topical anti-fungal creams.
3. Kawasaki disease
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, Kawasaki disease mainly affects children under the age of five, and can cause heart damage if it's late or untreated. The exact cause of this condition is still unknown. Kawasaki disease can cause fever, chapped lips, throat irritation, neck swelling, and redness in the whites of the eyes. Some children have no symptoms at all. If your child has symptoms of this disease, it must be treated immediately to prevent other conditions from occurring. For this treatment, doctors will usually give high-dose aspirin and special drugs called IVIG.
4. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Irritable bowel syndrome consists of two types, namely Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis is a type of IBS that only involves the large intestine and only the lining of the large intestine is inflamed. While Crohn's disease is one of the main types of IBS that affects every part of the intestinal tract from the mouth to the anus, and affects the entire thickness of the intestinal wall.
You may be one of 40% of people with IBS with extra-intestinal, especially if your IBS is a type of Crohn's disease. The researchers found that about 11% of them had skin problems because IBS showed symptoms such as dryness, cracking, lip bleeding, or some other skin disorders on the face. In many cases, chapped lips are not a sign of a serious disease problem, but if it is accompanied by other signs, then you should respond by going to the doctor.
5. Herpes
Chronic chapped lips are also a symptom of a serious condition, such as herpes. The Herpes simplex virus-1 can cause red sores around the mouth with dry and cracked skin. Cold sores are very contagious, so it's quite easy to get herpes through kisses or by sharing glasses with those who have the virus.
READ ALSO:
- 5 Ways to Prevent and Overcome Dry Lips
- 6 Habits for Dry and Chapped Lips
- Why Do Men Also Need Lip Balm?
