I have had the same problem for 9 years now. I have of course tried everything with no success. I also have heard of doing a surgical lip shave with no success which leads me to beleive a CO2 laser would not help either. A Derm at the Mayo Clinic had told me that it should go away spontanously once underlying anxiety issues are treated. His prognosis was very optimistic and I have not let my cheilitis affect my everyday life too much in the past and still hold hope for the future. I think we all should considering there is no underlying systematic or dermatalogical disease. The only problem I have now is my lips look a bit aged from all the exfoliation over the years but still the appearance is not too bad. No one hardly notices and I think that I am my biggest cosmetic critic. Anyone please feel free to float any ideas in this forumn as I am open to anything. Thanks!
The thing that gets me is that no-one actually knows what the fcuk is going on?
I mean , the doctors all have an opinion of what is happening to us ( of course they do it's their job to), but in actual fact it can only be an educated guess until there is a complex study done!
Until then, by the looks of things their guesses are as good as ours.
My fear is that cheilitis,especially the exfoliative kind isn't at the top of the medical profession's " things to do a study on list"
It's not contagious.It's not life threatening.It's not overwhelmingly painfull.It's pretty rare.
It must seem relatively minor in comparison to some of the dermitalogical puzzles out there,so why would they invest the money it would cost to get to the bottom of it?
Sorry if this all sounds a bit negative but i should imagine that you all know how i'm feeling.
I know what your going through.I know what all of you are going through.I have been to many doctors.I have been to many dermatologists.One doctor i visited even laughed at me,I guess he thought it wasn't that big a deal.No one has been able to help me.I have had the condition you described since i was sixteen years old and i am now forty one.
Can I ask you how the cheilitis has changed the appearance of your lips over the years? I have had it for 9 years now and my bottom lip has started to looked aged from all the peeling.
At the moment i am trying to understand my condition in the hope of getting rid of it when i do.
I have been suffering from exfoliative cheilitis for 4 years .
I'm pretty sure the reason it all started was due to two main contributing factors.
It was during the winter time that i first noticed that my lips had become quite chapped but had experienced this before and put it down to the cold weather and expected it to pass.
I was working nights and to make up for the lack of daylight i was getting i used a sunbed a few times.This i have since been told can cause the thin, delicate skin on the lips to peel.
I was told by a friend that a good way to remove the dead skin from chapped lips was to use a toothbrush and brush it off with water.This i fear was a big mistake!
My lips got worse.Instead of using lipbalm in order to protect my lips i used to lick and suck them alot and got into the habit of picking them as this appeared to make them look "better".
My thinking was that a slightly raw lip looked better than one with rough,cracked skin on.
I have since been to 4 different dematoligists all of which have had conflicting and contradictive oppinions on what exfoliatve cheilitis is and what the causes are.
They have,i must say, offered no practical advice on how to get rid of it, if this is at all possible.
The reason that i am writing this message is that i have
developed two possible reasons why this is happening and would love to hear your oppinions on them. Please don't be polite,if you think either one is floored for any reason, say so.
1.Exfoliative cheilitis: a type of exema.
When my lips first became chapped i rubbed them and picked them so much that i damaged the protective layer of skin on them and as a result they became hypersensitive to one or several substances i come into contact with on a regular or daily basis.
This could be anything from food or cutlary to smaller stuff in the atmosphere like pollen or exhaust fumes.
2.Exfoliative cheilitis: Damaged skin that didn't get the chance to heel.(my personal favourite-Possibly linked to underlying anxiety issues).
I have damaged the skin on my lips and never let them heal.
What if the dry peeling skin on my lips is the beggining of a scab.
The skin on my lips becomes thicker and thicker over the course of a few days until it gets to a point where it becomes so ugly looking and generally uncomfortable that i apply a load of vaseline and after a few moments wash all the dead skin off in the shower with ease.
What if i left them alone?Perhaps the dead skin would form a scab if left long enough and eventually healthy skin would be able to grow underneath.
The reason i haven't had the chance to try this out is because i have to work and would need to take potentially alot of time off in order to see it through,(something i have planned for the new year).
Imagine if i cut my leg and instead of letting a scab do what it is there to do i kept removing it.I'm sure the same type of reaction would occur.
Is Applying lubricants to help me manage the day to day problems that cheilitis causes, preventing me from finding a longer term solution?
I know we could all be suffering different types of cheilitis for different reasons but What do you lot think?
I have had exfoliative cheilitis for 9 years now and your description of the onset with the constant trauma of the top layer and your own manupilation to aid the appearance are exactly what I have done over the years. Throughout high school, I always had above-average chapped lips but never peeling. Then my senior year, I developed a nervous habit of picking at them, much like people who bite their nails to deal with anxiety. I, like everyone else, have been to atleast ten Derms. The last that I saw was at the Mayo Clinic. He had successfully treated the disorder with a few patients and others who continue to manage it. After ruling out contact sensitivity, he diagnosed exfoliative cheilitis. He feels that the patients who had the peeling subside had to deal with anxiety in their lives first, then once they were at peace with their situations, the cheilitis completely went away! Interesting huh? This may have been a coincidence, but I have always had some anxiety issues and the Dr felt that I should undergo cognitive behavioral therapy and possible pyschopharmacology to address the underlying anxiety issues which are driving the inflammation.
The Inflammation is obviously what is mediating the peeling. I tried the "leaving them alone" technique about 3 years ago and unfortunately it did nothing. The top layer would come off so easy that it had a negligable affect. Also, I know of someone/exfoliative who had a lip shave done and after the surgery, the lips continued to peel. Based on this, I feel that there are is some biochemistry in our systems that is out of whack that is causing the inflammation only on the lips. Perhaps, once the biochemistry is normalized through either anxiety/behavioral management with or without medications like Luvox, BuSpar, SSRI's like Zoloft, or perhaps later on in life when our bodies stop producing the irregular biochemistry like raging hormones or glands then we will hopefully see the rate of cellular turnover normalize.
I have never let the lips affect my day-to-day activities since this has started when I was 18. It has been more of an annoyance than anything to be overly concerned about because the appearance has always looked relatively normal witht the aid of vasoline and attention. Just recently, my bottom lip has developed a more aged appearance with an increase of fine lines and lateral wrinkles due to the exfoliation over the years, but they still look pretty normal. I plan on pursuing the anxiety management and pyschotherapy with professionals this coming year and will hold hope it will be successful.
It is so good to hear about cases of exfoliative cheilitis that have actually been cured. music to my ears!
I wonder how many other sufferers are guilty of picking and irritating the skin on their lips in the early days.
i have booked the time i need off work to conduct my experiment.I will go for a month without allowing anything to come into contact with my lips at all, in the hope they will skab up and heel.
i will let you know how this go's
Good luck with the anxiety management & psycotherapy angle.
keep us informed.
Hi, I have had exfoliative cheilitis for 8 years now, im 22 now and I recently took three weeks off to try and let my lips heal up(or so I thought). These are my opinions, theories, and conclusions. All criticism is welcome ;D.
For the first week I put aloe on them several times a day and at night. The skin got very thick and fell off in about three days. The skin underneath looked much healthier, but more or less the same. After the new skin was exposed to air it was only a matter of hours before it started to dry up and turn hard again. I thought this might be part of the healing process so I continued putting aloe on my lips and letting them peel on there own for two more cycles. The same thing happened, the new skin would just dry up and the whole the would start over again.
After the first week or so with no real results, I decided to stop putting aloe on my lips and let them be natural. The skin on my lips got hard and thick and without any moisturizers, did not want to fall off. After about 4 days some of the hard skin finally started to come off and revealed worse results than with aloe on. The skin underneath had another layer of dead skin under the layer that just peeled off! I decided to let them be hoping this was normal. The next day the sections that had peeled were all hard and dry again. It was clear to me that this was not working.
Now at the beginning of the second week, hitting rock bottom at this failed attempt, it was clear there was only one option left. I had previously tried aquafor on my lips for three weeks one year before. My lips did not peel with this goop on(enough Vaseline did the same thing)but stayed the same for the entire three weeks. This lead me to believe that only minimal healing was ever going to take place and looking through old pictures recently, I realized my lips looked exactly the same as they always had(before they started peeling).
I have been a lip balm addict for the entire duration of my peeling lips! I decided to stop using any kind of lip balm EVER! Stop cold turkey! Do babies need lip balm? No. Do kids need lip balm?. No. This is my problem. I had a dependency on lip balm, when ever my lips were dry or felt dry I would plaster over them to relieve the feeling. This was only ever making them worse. Lip balm also seems to make to skin softer and more open to moisture loss. Lips without lip balm instead are slightly chapped closing off immediate moisture loss. Chapping is maybe the bodies way of stopping some moisture loss. Sure they looked better with lip balm but I was depriving them of water! Through the use of lip balm I believe I have forgotten that naturally you lick, suck or whatever as means to get your bodies natural lip moisturizer saliva to your lips. It also doesn’t help to read everywhere you look that you should not lick your lips. Some people have to and maybe some don’t I guess. Old pictures revealed me sucking on my lips when I was young! Just watch people mouths on television and see. The peeling on my lips has always only been half of each upper and lower, this section is very similar to a mucous membrane or maybe even is a mucous membrane. The other part(which has never peeled) is normal skin that can hold moisture by itself. The type of lips I was born with requires me to get saliva the this membrane.
Now that I freed myself of all the anxiety associated with applying lip balm and lip healing experiments, it is only a matter of time until I remember how and when to lick/suck my lips properly. Through trial and error and the passing of time, I will eventually figure out what is for most people like blinking there eyes, the unconscious behavior of maintaining your lips naturally.
I am on my third day of lips o' natural. I seem to be over licking/sucking on them right now and am trying stop the unnecessary licks just to make them look better( freshly licked lips look alot better than chapped lips, but this is wrong wrong wrong, I have to stop this, damn my obsessive personality!)Too much saliva is just as bad as no saliva ;( I am trying to feel out when a sloppy lick is needed or when to pucker them up, suck them or when to just let them be. Lips do not have to be constantly wet. The tongue can also be very abrasive so I will lick gently to get the saliva there. The peeling has been minimal, and seems to be getting better with each night. At night something happens and I awake to soft lips in the morning? I have noticed that with all those past nights of plastering lip balm on the majority of it gets sucked up into the mouth by morning, so maybe something along these lines is happening. I must except that chapping is a part of normal lip life and it is only a matter of time until I remember the forgotten balance.
Mook, I have had exfoliative cheilitis for 9 years now and like everyone else, have tried everything and seen everyone. Please keep us informed(or you may e-mail me personally) as to how your No-LIP Balm efforts are going. I have not used any topical steriods for the past 2 years and only applied Aquaphor 3 to 4 times daily to keep them moist. Perhaps I should try your method although the appearance would be very chapped...at this point I am open to anything.
Have you noticed any skin thinning over the years resulting to increase wrinkles and lateral fine lines. I have. In fact, when I apply any steroid my bottom lip actually looks worse due to the inflammation going down and the wrinkles increasing. They actually look better with the inflammation as it stretches the skin gives it a more smooth appearance.
By freeing myself of lip balm and topical jellies, I am allowing my self to pay attention to what my natural lips are telling me and act accordingly. This is the only way I can ever see this problem going away for me. Its just me and my lips. I cant imagine going back to plastering on balms and jellies and timing peels for the best lip appearance. I refuse to live shackled like that.
I don’t believe any healing has to be done. The body heals no matter what. The peeling for me is from corner to corner, right from where the lips meet inside the mouth to about half way down each upper and lower lip. The peeling I believe is being caused by something or lack of something. For me I don’t think inflammation is why my lips are peeling. I believe that it is lack of water, more specifically saliva. The possibility of the skin being set in a skin peeling cycle was ruled out by my aquafor experiment. They did not peel for an entire three weeks with enough of this goop slopped on.
I do know that maintaining the lips is a very, very delicate balance. The skin underneath the skin that peels is a very thin skin but has always been a thin skin as I recently saw in old pictures. Its part of the mucous membrane and therefore does not have as many layers of skin as the epidermis. Thats why it swells up so much when its wet. I think I read that the epidermis has 5 layers of skin with the last being the dead horny layer. The skin on the lips only has three and does not produce natural oil like the epidermis does. This is why I think saliva can be the only moisturizer and why it is that lips are the only part of the body that chap. If they don’t produce there own oil then what’s stopping them from drying up?
Im on the 4th day of natural lips and my lips still peeled but the peeling skin was very thin, not thick like before. I licked them a kamillion times which is just as bad as not licking them at all. I am almost leaning towards the idea that if you leave the dead skin on your lips it masks the feelings to lick and suck on them, making the skin even drier underneath. Lips are in no way ever supposed to be wet all the time, but when they are all slobbery and wet the dead skin falls off with ease. I also had the idea that fresh shiny skin with no dead skin on it, almost seems to hold moisture better. Anyway these are just my ideas over the past few days. I am still clueless as to what the natural delicate balance is, but know that it will come with time and patience. Right now I am liking the way my lips feel and look and where this is headed ;D
11768, I dont think my lips are any thinner, but only half of my lips peel. Wrinkles and fine lines are there but I think always have been. They seem to get worse the dryer they get.
Good luck to you also! Let us know how it goes. One of my Derms called the strategy "nature's bandaid". Don't be overly concerned about the scabs while you leave it alone as many people have imperfections on their faces these days. Try Aquaphor Healing Ointment, it should help with the staining of the dead skin.
Over the years i have taken time off work just to spend time trying to heal my lips and have had no success.Here is just one thing i have tried.By the way it is only my lower lips skin which loosens, it gets chapped,crusty and peels (flakes).When it gets really bad i smear petroleum jelly on,i leave it on for two or three hours then i wash the jelly off with water the loose skin is completly removed.And it does remove easily.Then what i do is i pierce a vitamin e capsule and smear some on my lip just before i go to bed.Unfortunatly my lips look healthy for only three days.There must be something going wrong with the cell production because the process starts over again in just three days or so.I have also spent some time making sure nothing touches my lips including lip balms,jellies,water and food but after a few days a rash would appear,the skin would crack and the skin would loosen.There's just no end to it.I don't believe it is an anxiety disorder.I believe the skin has a life of it's own.I believe that once the skin has grown back the process should stop but this may not be what is happening.What is happening is that the skin underneath the new layer is allso pushing outward wanting to be the new layer.Does this make sense to anyone?
The inflammation is causing the peeling and the skin underneath the top layer to push outward. If the inflammation goes away, the bottom lip will return to normal size and the top layer should cease peeling. How odd is it that this is only occuring on our lips. It's a good thing, but very odd. Lips must have a very unique makeup(no sweat glands) that makes them suceptable to chronic peeling if irritated enough. Sure, most of us will admit to manual picking and peeling in order to aid appearance, but even with that you would think they would eventually heal on their own and stop peeling especially when we made dedicated efforts NOT to pick or peel them manually at the expense of a very chapped appearance. I have had scabs on others parts of my body that I irritated for months that even left small scars but that inflamation went away and the skin stopped peeling and formed normally. Not on the lips though? Reducing the inflammation is the key so the top layer of skin has a chance to form normally again. One of my Derms put me on a Super-Potent topical steriod called Ultravate 4 years into this thing. I applied a large amount twice a day. For the 1st two weeks I had excellent results as My lips did not peel or stain-Very normal feeling. The 3rd week they began to peel and stain a little, then eventually I stopped the Ultravate as this is a very strong corticosteriod. I almost cleared but the underlying inflammation eventually took over. Perhaps even more aggressive topical treatment(Ultravate for 4 or 5 weeks) and accompany it with a prescription of Predisone to break the viscious cycle of inflammation to let that top layer form and stay that way might work?
Have you noticed any skin thinning over the years due to the constant exfoliation?
I too have suffered from peeling lips, due mainly to my obsessive habit of picking and biting the skin off for over 15 years. After I finally kicked the habit, the lips refused to form a sustainable skin layer, instead, they scab up and peel off after 2-3 days.
I have been to several dermatologists who refuse to take the problem seriously. I conducted "healing trials", went days without touching the lips, tried lip balms, no lip balms, and corticosteroid creams. Nothing has worked. But I do have a suggestion to all those out there with a similar problem:
Forget about it. Don't let it run your life. I spent over 5 years obsessing over how I could heal them, what works, what doesn't work, how they look, etc. I finally realized that this is the only life I have, and I want to make the most of it... and that does not include being trapped in the bathroom for hours looking at my lips.
I have asked several dermatologists if there are any long-term concerns (such as cancer or infections). The answer is no. I have inquired about lip shaves, micro dermabrasion, and other laser treatments. The resounding response was that these are very expensive treatments for a problem that really does not require a major, immediate solution.
So there we have it: we are not going to die from it, or acquire a life-threatening (or even cosmetic) disease, nor do people stop me on the street and say "my goodness! what's wrong with your lips!!"
I have been using Ceralip Repair Creme for the last two years and have had wonderful results. It truly keeps the scabs from looking thick and dead looking, and the peeling is gentle after 2-3 days. But that's it - I rub the skin off in a circular motion after I brush my teeth and get on with my day.
I hope it does not come across that I do not sympathize with your concerns - I repeat - I spent 5 YEARS worrying about it. I have driven my boyfriend and family crazy. But when it comes down to it, my happiest memories in life include them, and that's what it should come down to.
If the scabby skin bothers you, gently exfoliate it as it hardens. And keep going. If your lips feel hard and cracked, apply a good moisturizer. And keep going. This is NOT something that requires hypothesis, tests, or in-depth research. If the doctors are not worried about it - why are we?
There are thousands of people who bite and pick at their lips. They've been doing it all their life. If they all
simultaneously stopped, the world would be full of people with thick, peeling lips. But most people just don't put that much thought into it. If I was still picking my lips, I would have no idea I even had a problem (ignorance = bliss).
So please, keep your lips moisturized, don't sweat the peeling, and find happiness in your life. We may not be able to change this, we can only accept it and move on. This is NOT a hard thing to deal with, its all in your attitude. Would you trade this condition for cancer? Or disfigurement? Or death?
On a final note, there seems to be a correlation between my attitude and my condition. In the early years, my lips would turn white on contact with water and peel aggressively after a couple of days, leaving behind swollen, irritated lips. After I stopped stressing over them, they no longer turn white when soaked and the lips are not irritated or sensitive. The peeling skin is also A LOT thinner.
So please, everybody, play with children, watch movies with friends, and laugh at every opportunity.
Hi #12124,
Thanks so much for that uplifting post. I've had cheilitis for 6 months and you have truly made me feel better about myself. Quick question, since you are a female, do you ever wear colored lip gloss? I've found this all natural cosmetics site with glosses made with no irritants that I can gather from. I want to take the plunge since I have to live with this, but I'm a bit nervous too.
My derm is a minimalist, and a guy, so he doesn't understand. My current moisturizer of choice is Vaseline. I'm just wondering what you're experience has been. I'm also going to e-mail you in case you don't come back to the forum.
Thanks,
Nati
It's nice to see that you are handling your situation as well as you are,i admire your positive attitude and appreciate some of the points that you have made.
However i don't think that it is wise to advise people to aid with the "exfoliation" if they hope for their condition to
ever go away.
It appears that the common cause of our condition is habitual lip Licking,picking and general irritation.
I believe that reversing the effect that this has had on our lips will take more than leaving them alone just for a few days.
I think our lips produce a rough outer layer of skin to protect the delicate new skin that is trying to form underneath - this is how skin repairs it's self when it has been damaged after all.
I also believe that when i wash off the dead skin i go back to square one and this would explain the cycle starting again!
I was obviously anxious about the appearence of my lips at some point or i would never have developed this stinking condition. But here's the catch....
in order for them to get better i will have to leave them to heal naturally. This will mean leaving them to look worse than they ever have before. This is evidently going to be hard if not impossible for somebody who has developed this condition in the first place because they are so worried about how their lips look!
The first rule in dealing with a dermatological condition is not to aggravate it and when we wash the dry skin off i believe we are doing exactly that.
The one thing that all the derms i have been to have aggreed on is that i should not under any circumstances pick my lips and it has only recently occured to me that when i deeply moisturise and incourage my lips to peel this is the worst thing i could be doing.
The use of vaseline is also something that concerns me as skin needs to breath if it is going to heal.
I once tried to deeply moisturise my lips for a week with vaseline.This actually stopped the exfoliation but didn't help produce a strong top layer of skin.All it appeared to do was freeze the whole process.
12211, You sound like a strong person and it is great you are ready to accept things and carry on, but this condition seriously affects my quality of life on a day to day basis, there for it is something i refuse to accept as pemanent.Good luck in your future.
Perhaps the reason that the doctors have not been able to give any of us a definitive awnser on why this condition occurs is because the skin is doing exactly what it is supposed to and the problem is that we need to let nature take it's course and stop getting in the way.
This is only one person's oppinion. It my be right ,it may be wrong.I think it is important not to lose hope. If we put all our ideas together maybe we will get somewhere.
I will ,of course,let you know how things work out.
I just thought i would share something i am doing to help my lips heal naturally.When i brush my teeth i try to keep any soap off my lips.After i take water in to rinse my mouth i cover my lower lip with the length of my index finger while i am spitting out.This way no water with soap
touchs my lip.After i am done i pat dry with a clean towel.I have a strong suspision that an ingredient in toothpaste is having an adverse effect on my condition and is stalling the healing process.The ingredient may even be causing the condition but i just can't prove it.What would happen when the soap did touch is that an hour or so later i would press gently on my lip with a finger and i could sense that there was an air pocket between the hard,crusty
skin and the skin beneath.This did not occur when i kept the lip covered while i spit the water and soap solution out.I just want to add that those who have posted in the past should keep posting for the sake of those who find this site for the first time.I find it very soothing to know that there are others who understand what i am going
through.
I also think that letting the lips crust and not encouraging them to peel is the key to improvement. I have had peeling lips for over 5 yrs. I have let tiny areas of the bottom lip crust naturally while letting the rest peel off. I did this so that it did not look too unsightly, because once it gets to that stage the temptation to peel it all off becomes irresistable. By doing this small areas of my lips have become better over the years but the process is very slow, but I'm willing to be patient if it means that over time they'll become fully better. At least they do look a lot better than they did a few years back, so that if nothing at all makes it worth persisting with.
it's hard to notice if the skin has thinned or not .It seems the longer i leave it before i decide to slap on the vaseline and wash it off, the thicker the skin is.
I hope this makes sense.
Hi!
I read a few of your posts re: the lip thing. I seem to be gong though the exact same thing. I am tied of everyone saying that it’s just "dry skin". I have also begun to notice that my bottom lip is taking on a vaguely aged apearance, with vertical lines etc. I have been using Aquaphor for almost a year...while it does help keep them moister, it does nothing for the burning, redness and irritation...in fact, I think it may make it worse! The only thing that helps is this stuff my derm gave me when this first started happening 2 or 3 years ago...it's a prescription hydrocortisone cream called Westcort. It helps the itchy burning redness overnight, but as soon as I stop using it it comes back. I am at my wit's end with this!! I wonder if this may be an allergy thing? My fiancé thinks it may be diet related. Have you looked into any of that at all?
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Peeling Lips (Cheilitis, Exfoliative Cheilitis, Factitious Cheilitis, Id... 
Re: peeling lips (off topic) 
