Irratation on upper Lip

I am experierecing an irration on my upper lip.... Not to my knowleged have i ever had a cold sore... I went out into the heat for extreme amount of time. about a week later my lip began to tingle and then another week past and my lip began to swell fearing that i may be getting a cold sore i started taking abreva, well i got no breakage or sores or anything... but i keep putting it on the swellling went down.. well for the last 2 months my lip has been feeling irrated nothing has appeared i keep checking. i use  abreva just to make sure but the irration is still there what could this be?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
It can be contact dermatitis,vit B 12 deficiency or cheilitis. Take some vitamin B complex for some days and see if your symptoms improve.
Cheilitis(Inflammation of the skin on and around the lips)is often seen in atopic dermatitis.Diagnosed by bld test like RAST.Treatment is by topical steroids or oral therapy of corticosteroids in severe cases.Topical creams like tacrolimus ointment (Protopic) and pimecrolimus cream (Elidel) are also useful.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional doubts.Kind regards.