Not sure. Think its Angular Chelitis and very hard to get rid of.

Dear Doc,
My name is Brian and Im a healthy 26 yr old male who's very active. Recently, for the last three weeks Ive noticed that my lips have been chapped and then out of nowhere I noticed that the bottom right corner of my lip was unusually red and it came out farther then my normal lip line. I didnt think anything of it at first, just kept applying my usual lip balm until it started to crack a few days afterwards. Ive had the symptoms ever since. Ive been doing research on this and came across Angular Chelitis. Its only in one corner of my mouth and it doesnt hurt that bad when I open and close my mouth. Its just that the inflammed redness and swelling doesnt make it look too good. Im an avid runner and a few weeks prior I made the mistake of running in 7 degree weather, with the wind blowing, and no face protection. I take a multi vitamin now, and ive been applying peroxide, thinking that maybe it would clear up any bacteria and applying an antifungal cream. It doesnt seem to be a severe problem for me, and Ive never really had this before. Is it something that will go away, or should I go see someone? I guess it's just more of a nuisance to me than anything.

thank you for your advice

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Angular cheilitis is an inflammatory lesion at the labial commissure, or corner of the mouth.

Angular cheilitis can be caused by bacteria, but is more commonly a fungal infection. Therefore, it is not appropriate to treat it with vasoline or lip balm because it will increase the moisture level and possibly lead to spreading the infection. The treatment of choice is clioquinol cream or iodoquinol cream which are available over the counter.

If even after treatment there is no relief then pls consult a dermatologist.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep us posted if you have any additional queries. Kind regards.