What are Dry Chapped Lips?
Basically dry chapped lips are a common problem which most people experience, especially during the winters and the most common natural reaction to this problem are licking or even biting the lips. However it should be remembered that licking the dry lips or biting them is actually doing the wrong thing, and this can make the situation go worse resulting in bleeding.

Symptoms of Dry Chapped Lips:
The most common symptoms of dry and chapped lips include flaky skin on the lips along with constant dryness experienced in the area. Often this problem gets worse and leads to bleeding in the area and the lips appear to have prominent cracks on them. It has also been seen that very dry and chapped lips can lead to bleeding, which makes it difficult to enjoy foods as the lips sting when spicy or hot food is consumed.

Causes of Dry Chapped Lips:
Some of the most common causes of severe and chronic chapped lip include allergic reaction to cosmetics and these can also be caused due to skin infections or extreme weather conditions. These include factors like excess sun and wind exposure or the biting of the lips and even the lack of vitamin B. It has been seen that dryness, cracking or soreness of the lip may require a medicated product to provide relief. The other factors which result in dry chapped lips include lack of essential fatty acids and dehydration. One of the major causes resulting in dry chapped lips includes a person getting sick. The causes of severe and chronic chapped lips are also very dry skin on the lips, which have not been moisturized or treated properly.

Prevention of Dry Chapped Lips:
Natural and Ayurvedic:
There are various ways through which you can prevent dry chapped lips and these include using some moisturizing Chapstick or lip balms. It should be kept in mind that you should buy lip products which contain phenol, beeswax, and sunscreen content along with aloe Vera and vitamin E. These lip balms and chapsticks should be applied through out the year as your skin on the lips can get dry and damaged at any time of the year. Some flavored lip balms are also available but these are not advised for children as they tend to lick the lips more after applying them. The people who have very dry lips should try and carry a chapstick or lip balm along with them all the time because this would keep their lips moisturized and it would also help them to keep a shiny and happy smile on their faces all the time.

Home Remedies:
Some other preventive measures for dry and chapped lips include avoiding going out in the sun, dry and cold weather, without putting on lip balm. You should not try and keep lips soft by licking them and try to enjoy humid weather conditions. Excess exposure in the sun should be avoided and you should also eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. You can apply light exfoliating treatments on the lips once they have become very dry and are wearing off. This should be followed by regular lip balm treatments and medication is usually not required.