Why Your Lips Are Chapped (and Natural Ways to Heal Them)

Chapped lips are a pain in the face.

And if you can’t figure out why your lips are chapped, then finding a treatment for them that’s both natural and effective can be pretty difficult.

Fortunately, we’ve got the inside scoop on how you can heal your chapped lips, and even some solutions that may prevent you from ever developing them.

These are tried and true and work naturally with your body’s biology.

One thing we also want to mention is you may be asked to stop using potentially toxic products in order to save your lips from damage. And some of the reason your lips end up chapped is because the products you’re using to heal them are actually hurting them.

We’ll get into all of this, but first, let’s talk about the most common causes of chapped lips.

Here’s What Causes Chapped Lips

Chapped lips can be caused by all different things.

Of the more common causes are environmental hazards.

For instance, cold weather, wind, low humidity, dry air and sun exposure dry out the lips and cause them to be chapped.

Your lips are unlike most other body parts in that they don’t contain as many glands as the rest of your body to help to keep them oily and moisturized. Plus, they’re almost always exposed (more so than the rest of your body)

Another very common cause of chapped lips?

Licking your lips too much. 

Your saliva contains a specific enzyme meant to help breakdown food, which can actually cause the breakdown of your lip tissues. So, if you lick your lips often, it can harm them. And even worse, if you’re trying to heal them and lick them before putting on chapstick, it can lock that enzyme in and cause further damage.

Additionally medications can induce chapped lips. Examples include, Inderal, retinoids (which are used for skin conditions), lithium, along with some chemotherapy drugs.

Dehydration can lead to chapped lips too. If you don’t have enough water in your body your lips will not “populate” with water and can crack and bleed.

Lastly, lip balms and chapsticks with phthalates can damage your lips and lipsticks with propyl gallate may harm lips and even toothpastes with SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) could irritate lips.

It’s a lot to think about, but now that you’re aware of what contributes to chapped lips, you can figure out how to help heal them.

How to Heal Your Lips

Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, a well-respected Integrative physician says this for healing your lips:

“If your lips are more chapped in the morning upon awakening, it may be because you are breathing through your mouth. If so, try putting a protective barrier of lip balm on before bed.

If you have cracking at the angles of your mouth, take a multivitamin that provides at least 100 percent of the recommended daily intake of B vitamins, which gives your body the nutrients needed to help heal.”

Putting coconut oil on your lips is also helpful.  Coconut oil has emollient properties which help to moisturize and form a barrier on the lips for added protection.  

Using avocado butter could also be helpful. Healthline reports, “According to a review of studies, avocado butter works well as an emollient and thickener in lip balms. It isn’t greasy and is well-absorbed by the skin. It also contains several fatty acids and antioxidants known to benefit the skin, including oleic and linoleic acid.”

Natural lip balms are great tools too. 

So long as the ingredients are limited to vitamins, and oils you know to be healthy, they’re a good idea to us too.  But you can save a lot of money using the tips above to heal chapped lips and be more comfortable too.