When I have given up on trying to cure my EC, my lips have drastically improved to the point where I almost no longer worry about how my lips look. I given up years ago, but still not 100 percent normal. I got a lot of the lips natural lines backs, but even those get flaky at times and maybe even peel once in a long while. But the peeling is so thin and a lot of times goes back to normal lip skin. I still got small patches where my lips remain raw, but no where near as bad as when I first had it. And those raw areas have natural lip lines in them. I wish I could be more specific, but I haven't exactly thought about my lips in so long. I have to say that there was a significant difference - at leat for me - in me actually trying to leave them alone and me giving up. When I did the leave alone method, my EC seemed to spread. When I stopped giving a shit, my lips started improving. I wish I could be more specific besides just saying it is all psychological. I'm still not 100% cured, but I can honestly say that I spent the last 6 or some years leading a normal, happy life. The only thing that bothers me most now are the fordyce spots that have suddenly started spreading. I do think the japanese method has merit, but perhaps your state of mind is even more important.