Treatment | Burning lips

Treatment

The treatment must be made dependent on the triggering cause. Most lip complaints can be alleviated with simple home remedies in self-treatment. If the lips become dry, the most important therapy is to remove the trigger.

This includes drinking more water and reducing alcohol and tobacco consumption. In addition, lipid-replenishing creams can be applied to the lips for a few days to promote rapid healing of the lips. Besides medical products and creams, selected household remedies can also be used.

Allergic complaints can be treated most effectively only by avoiding the allergens. In the long term, therapies for desensitization to certain substances are available, whereby the body slowly becomes accustomed to the allergens. Infectious causes often require antibacterial or antiviral therapy with antibiotics or antiviral drugs in ointment form.

For inflammations caused by hyperreactivity of the immune system, such as allergies or eczema, ointments with light immunosuppressive substances can be applied to the skin. They can stop the inflammatory process and give the skin time to regenerate and heal itself. Allergic complaints can be treated most effectively only by avoiding the allergens.

In the long term, therapies to desensitize the body to certain substances are available, whereby the body slowly becomes accustomed to the allergens. Infectious causes often require antibacterial or antiviral therapy with antibiotics or antiviral drugs in ointment form. For inflammations caused by hyperreactivity of the immune system, such as allergies or eczema, ointments with light immunosuppressive substances can be applied to the skin.

They can stop the inflammatory process and give the skin time to regenerate and heal itself. Various household remedies can be used, especially if the lips are dehydrated. Medical ointments are not always necessary.

The function of household remedies is to lubricate the lips, provide them with fluid and reduce the symptoms until healing occurs. Even simple oils such as olive oil can be used for this purpose. Small amounts can be applied to the lips until the entire skin of the lips is wetted.

They should never be licked off the lips, otherwise the symptoms will worsen. Aloe vera and honey are equally greasing and healing. Conventional lip balm or lip butter preparations are already found in many households today.

These are not only available in pharmacies but also in supermarkets. If the symptoms do not disappear by themselves or cause severe itching and pain, a dermatologist should be consulted after a while. You can find more on this topic here: Honey against dry lips

Associated symptoms

Burning lips are often accompanied by other symptoms of dehydration. At first, a feeling of tightness of the lips occurs. Burning is accompanied by redness, pain and itching.

Later, the lips may tear, bleed and hurt strongly with every movement. At this stage the barrier function of the skin is no longer guaranteed. Contact with certain foods or liquids can cause severe stabbing pain in the bleeding, open areas.

Sour drinks such as orange juice can be very painful. Symptoms of dehydration of the entire body can also occur. In addition to generally dry skin, thirst, fatigue, constipation, circulatory problems and dizziness may also occur.

If there are chronic illnesses behind the burning lips, these can be manifested by other general symptoms of the body. Torn corners of the mouth are another symptom often associated with burning and dry lips. At this stage the skin is so dry that it is under a lot of tension and tears through movements such as opening the mouth.

Especially the corners of the mouth are often affected, as they are under increased tension. Torn corners of the mouth are a particularly unpleasant symptom, as they can hurt with every meal, yawn or contact with various foods. In addition to dehydration, herpes and diseases such as neurodermatitis can also cause torn corners of the mouth with burning lips.

A burning tongue is rather untypical in case of dehydration of the lips. The tongue is largely protected from external influences such as cold air and strong wind. It is also permanently moistened and does not dry out very easily, except for severe colds when breathing through the mouth or snoring.

If the tongue burns, there are often other causes behind it. Often a vitamin deficiency is responsible for these symptoms. Iron deficiency, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folic acid deficiency as well as excessive alcohol consumption can cause burning lips and a burning tongue.

Various food allergies can also lead to oral allergy syndrome. In some cases the tongue is also involved. Swelling of the lips indicates an acute inflammatory process.

If the lips are very dry and bloody, the lips become inflamed as a reaction to the mechanical irritation and can swell. You can find more about inflammation of the lips here: Causes and therapy of inflamed lips Allergies also cause such swellings. In this case, an acute reaction to the allergen is the accumulation of water in the tissue, leading to a so-called “oedema”.

In many cases, inflammations are also caused by pathogens and toxins. In this respect, the herpes virus is the most common pathogen for viral lip swelling. More rarely, insect bites can also be behind it.

In the case of insect bites, toxins are injected into the lip which, similar to allergens or pathogens, lead to inflammatory reactions with burning and swollen lips. Dry lips are by far the most common reason for burning lips. The majority of people are occasionally affected by dry lips.

Factors that favour dry lips most The problem with dry lips is that the lips notice the dehydration at an early stage due to their high sensitivity. Most people reflexively moisten their lips with their tongue, which however increases the dehydration. As a result, the full picture of dry, bloody lips with cracked corners of the mouth can often be seen.

  • Daily drinking amount
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Tobacco consumption
  • Strong wind
  • Nocturnal snoring

The burning of the lips can be accompanied by itching. This occurs less frequently when the lips dry out. However, inflammatory reactions are often behind it.

Rashes, lip herpes, allergies but also insect bites typically lead to itching. The itching tempts to scratch the skin and lips, further damaging their surface and intensifying the discomfort. Particularly in the case of pre-damaged lips, the itching must be suppressed or treated with medication to prevent further damage to the skin.