How to get rid of chapped lips in winters
The skin on the lips is thinner and relatively more delicate, which makes it prone to conditions like dryness, cracking, and peeling. The chapping can be triggered by skin irritants, allergies, smoking, etc. Further, with the onset of winter, the cracking might even get worse. However, simple lifestyle habits can help. Here are five ways to help you deal with chapped lips this winter.
Regularly apply lip balm
Regularly apply a good-quality, natural ingredients-based lip balm, at least once a day, to keep your lips moist. This will help prevent dryness and chapping in lips. Look out for ingredients such as petroleum and beeswax. However, avoid ingredients like menthol, camphor, and phenol in your lip balms, as these tend to dry out the lips further. Also, avoid biting and licking your lips.
Exfoliate the lips
Sometimes, lip balms might not help cure cracked lips. This is so because chapped lips are covered in a layer of dry skin, which may prevent the healing ingredients of lip balms from reaching the target areas. To deal with this, use a natural lip scrub regularly. This will help exfoliate the dry skin. Look for natural ingredients such as sugar and baking soda.
Stay hydrated, inside and out
Dehydration is one of the major causes of cracked skin and lips. When our body is dehydrated, it pulls water from certain regions to ensure that the cells stay hydrated. This can lead to dryness in skin areas, including the lips. Although the recommended daily water intake varies from person to person, aim to drink 8-12 glasses throughout the day to stay aptly hydrated.
Quit smoking; Consider buying a humidifier
Smoking: Smoking can irritate the sensitive skin around the lips, causing them to dry out and become more prone to cracking. Hence, reduce or quit smoking to heal your lips. Humidifier: The dry winter air can increase the cracking in your lips. So, you may consider installing a humidifier at your home/office to restore that much-needed moisture into the air around you. Stay healthy!
