Can lip picking cause lip cancer?

[iheartmakeup]

I heard somewhere that picking at the skin on your lips can cause or increase your risk for cancer. Is this true?

I have a really bad habit of pulling off the skin on my lower lip, sometimes even until it bleeds. I've been doing it for a long time now and I turned 20 a couple months ago. I'm trying to break the habit but it worries me a bit.

[tinamarie03]

Yes, picking at the lips upper epidermis (stratum corneum) can, in fact, put you at a higher risk of developing skin cancer. The reason for this is as a result of the constant tearing of the superficial layer, the forming skin cells (keratinocytes) deep in the stratum basale layer of the dermis, must now overcompensate for the premature loss of those skin cells at the surface of your lip. The act of hastily producing new keratinocytes can lead to an increased rate of cell division; which we all know is uncontrolled, cancer.

[Azzus]

yeah...this may lead to oral or lip cancer..bcoz the tissues that are constantly multiplying...like in this case...ur lip tissues are constantly multiplying...such tissues are more prone to develop cancer due to high chances of mistakes in cell division.i can explain this with an example.When u are doing some maths sums,and u are in a hurry and u hav lots of homework to be done.In such cases there are maximum chnaces of doing miatakes.same is applied here.the cells have to divide regularly, quickly,this may sometime lead to mistake in cell cycle.A single mistake is enough for development of a cancerous tumor.So atleast from now try to stop that habit.I know its not easy but try n try n try before its too late...

[iheartmakeup]

bump