Sunday, April 14, 2013

My Lip Eczema Experiences

I  have lip eczema. First it came out just a small, round, dark patch on my upper lip a few years ago. I thought it was nothing. Until it first became bad last year. My whole lips were peeling endlessly, they turned dark in color, and were often itchy to uncomfortably painful when very irritated.

So i started reading what my condition could possibly be. Since it was peeling endlessly, I thought could it possibly be eczema? I did a Google search of eczema images, turned out they look very similar to my condition. That's when I realized there is actually lip eczema - that you can have eczema on the lips. I kept on reading for what can trigger lip eczema. Some include:
  • cosmetics
  • toothpaste
  • extreme weather conditions (too hot or too cold)
  • food
I thought, could it be the toothpaste I was using? Back then, I was using Colgate with liquid calcium. I thought maybe it was harsh for me so I stopped using it. After that, my lips started getting better, but not well. It still kept peeling, just not as bad as before.

One time, I told my then-bf about my eczema. He told me to get Carmex or any lip balm that has beeswax. I then searched on ebay for Carmex and found a seller. I tried Carmex for several months, though my lips got better, they still felt not okay.

Then that summer we went to Camiguin Island, did some island hopping and of course snorkeling. My lips felt bad the day after, and worse as days went on. Turns out, saltwater can aggravate lip eczema too. I kept on using Carmex, until I read somewhere that Carmex shouldn't be used for a long time. I forgot why. Maybe you can just do your own research about it.

Anyway, I read that unfortunately, lip eczema has no cure. All you can do is avoid irritants so you don't have flareups and ALWAYS keep your lips moisturized. It pays to have a good lip balm.

I'll write another post on my experiences with different lip balms.

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