Mouth-to-mouth: Caring for you lips

Maria Kegel, Contributor, Jakarta

They are one of the most expressive features on our face, yet they often receive the least attention when it comes to personal care.

Our lips are a reflection of our inner health and as such, they deserve the same care and consideration as the rest of our body.

To avoid your set of lips coming with its own set of problems, a healthy diet coupled with the daily use of a moisturizer are necessary to combat the elements of sun, wind, pollution, climate changes and the stress that lips come up against every day.

The most common problem to affect our lips, according to Dr. Edwin Juanda, a dermatologist at the Jakarta Skin Center, is dryness and cracking.

He said dry lips simply needed to be moisturized with any one of the many over-the-counter products available on the market.

Another common lip problem he noted was infections caused by herpes simplex virus type 1, a viral disease characterized by watery blisters, which commonly last from three to 14 days.

The blisters are usually limited to the lip area and when they eventually break, they become painful open sores that develop a yellowish coating before they heal and disappear.

Edwin recommended an antiviral cream or antibiotic to ease the discomfort caused by the symptoms and to speed healing.

Acyclovir (sold under the brand Zovirax) is the most popular medication on the market for relief of oral herpes symptoms and Edwin called it the best treatment as it aided in minimizing blisters within two days.

Studies out of the United States indicate that several other drugs have also proven effective, such as foscarnet (sold as Foscavir), which reduces the size, symptoms and severity of sun- triggered cold sores, and ascoxal, a solution that utilizes vitamin C with other anti-herpes simplex 1 agents.

Herpes can be triggered by stress, fatigue, too much sun or by a mild form of trauma to the lips, such as having them pulled or stretched during a visit to the dentist.

The virus is contagious, and can be easily spread to others by direct contact with the blisters, such as kissing or sharing eating utensils.

It is one of the most difficult viruses to control and reoccurrences can develop anywhere from several weeks to one year.

The sores should be kept clean and dry by applying a substance, such as cornstarch. Wearing a sunblock can also help prevent the reoccurrence of sun-triggered oral herpes.

Lips can suffer not only from neglect in our daily skin regimen, but also from a poor diet, with telltale signs showing in several forms.

Equally uncomfortable as cold sores are cracks and splits that can sometimes occur in the corners of the mouth or on the lips.

A deficiency in vitamin C or the vitamin B complex is often to blame for this condition, although it can also be caused by a fungal infection, Edwin said.

Liver, low-fat yogurt and dry cereal enriched with riboflavin, or vitamin B2, are good dietary sources to choose from to prevent this condition.

Edwin added that a diet rich in antioxidant was essential for healthy lips.

The biggest danger to their well-being, however, is skin cancer resulting from actinic damage to the lips, which is caused by overexposure to the sun, Edwin said.

"However, cases of this occurring here have been very seldom."

He said symptoms include a thickening of the mucous membrane or a prolonged chronic sore that does not respond to antibiotic treatment.

"The sun's harmful rays, as well as smoking, changes the cells of our lips, causing a decrease in the flow of blood to them, which, in the long run, will affect our body's defense mechanism against cancer," he said.

Lip cancer, which is mainly caused by smoking, can start as a whitish patch on the lower lip. A lump found on the lip should also be checked by a doctor.

Most lip balms and moisturizers come with various levels of sunscreen protection factor in their products, and those who spend extended periods of time outdoors may want to consider applying one of them before exposure to the sun.