Mouth-to-mouth: Caring for you lips
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.