As the cold weather approaches so do my pockets filled with Chapstick. Every time I leave the room I make sure to bring at least 2 different kinds with me. My favorite these day being the Eos brand. While I look at all my possible brand choices it makes me think why my all of a sudden I am obsessed with Chapstick! Number 1 i know that my lips are chapped, and number 2 it’s winter. I have always noticed that everyone seems to deal with the struggle especially when it is cold out. But I haven’t looked up why until now.
According to The Washington Post, “skin on your face is thinner than skin on other parts of your body. As a result, your lips are likely to become dry when they are assaulted by cold air, dry air, sunlight and wind.” This primarily is the main reason why our lips get chapped. There are also many other factors to why we get chapped lips.
your lips have the unfortunate attribute of being near your tongue. No one would lick their forearm because it felt dry, but the tongue can have a mind of its own and might take a big swipe at your lips before you think about it. After you lick your lips, the saliva evaporates, making them drier than they were to begin with.
Another reason why our lips are getting chapped is that our lips are close to our tongue. The tongue has a mind of its own and it’s doing things for you without even you thinking about it. For example our tongue licking our lips for us without us being conscious about it. After we lick our lips the saliva evaporates and it makes them even drier then they were before the lips were licked. This adds to the cheapness feeling and the need for relief.
Although the feeling of chapped lips are annoying there are many ways to prevent and treat chapped lips. Instead of licking the lips to promote relief, treat the chapped lips with lip balm. Another way to prevent lip chap is to avoid crusty and salty foods that can sting the cuts on the lips. Another way you can treat is to not pick your chapped lips. Another way to help treat chapped lips in the winter is to buy a humidifier. In the winter the air is dry, even indoors , putting moisture into the air will help the chapped lips.
Citations:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/19/AR2010121903544.html
Hey Kaitlyn, this is something that is currently affecting me right now and is so frustrating, I do tend to lick my lips when they are chapped, this is out of habit and something I do without realizing. I hate the fact that my lips get chapped and my skin gets dry during winter time. I never understood exactly why but here is a link to a website that helped me further understand the reasons behind this http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/audrey-kunin-md/many-hidden-causes-chapped-lips
This was cool to read how exactly our lips get chapped. Like everyone else my lips get really chapped in the winter, especially when I do any sort of outdoor activity like running. I found that instead of using any sort of wax based chapstick, it’s important to use ointment based products instead such as Vaseline Lip Therapy.
http://www.webmd.com/beauty/lips-smile/why-your-lips-are-chapped