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Cheilitis

I have had redness and burning of the vermilion border for almost a year now, especially on the bottom lip. I have been to three different doctors. The last telling me it was cheilities caused by my toothpaste. She asked me to switch toothpastes and use a topical steroid/antibiotic cream for three weeks. The redness and burning has not stopped. I feel like I've tried many things to get it to go away and nothing is working. The only thing that takes some of the redness and burning away is neosporin. I've tried stopping my proactiv to see if that was it and that didn't work. I've tried stopping the chapstick I use and that didn't work. I'm starting to think it may be the multi-vitamins I am taking but that seems silly. It got worse once after getting an allergy shot but only once. It does get worse with heat. I don't know what to do anymore and I want it to go away. Does anyone have any advice on what mauy be causing this?
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Avatar universal
Hello. I hope you still check this. I have been having the same exact symptoms, in the same place. Lower lip, left side, on the border. It get's really red and inflamed, to the point my whole bottom left lip gets puffy sometimes when it gets bad. Like I have a fat lip. it looks like someone socked me in the lip. The border of the lip is called the vermillion border. This is where I get it, always on the bottom left side. I have gotten it about 6 times in the past 7 months. So almost once a month. The doctors have no idea what it is. I suggested chelitis and they accused me of being a "Google Doc" (google doctor). How rude right? It's not herpes, I know herpes, I get that on my face sometimes too but it never looks or feels like this. This is different. The bumps are smaller, like very tiny almost invisible, and very flat, not raised, and it always developed a kind of flat yellowish crust over it. It get's very itchy, almost unbearable. And it hurts. One thing that really helped was biofreeze. Yes it sounds strange, it's the stuff you use for muscles. But just a very tiny amount makes it feel cool and numb and soothes it quite well. This has worked the best better than anything. Also, watermelon rind. Yep you guessed it, the white part of the watermelon, underneath the red part. It is the most soothing thing in the world. Make sure it's a cool temp. Coconut oil also seems to be soothing. I am still searching for a thing that makes it go away. I suspect it could be fungal. So jock itch creams seem to help. However it seems to also be part bacterial. Because I have found that antibacterial ointments also help. I hope that was helpful. I also do not eat gluten or wheat, and do find that if I even have a little bit of wheat or white flour, (like in bread or a burrito tortilla) it may fare up. Heat does make it worse. I agree keep it cool. Let's keep sharing info. Blessings.
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563773 tn?1374246539
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello,
Firstly,I t can be due to vit B deficiency. Take some vitamin B complex for some days and see if your symptoms improve.
Secondly, it can be due to atopic dermatitis or eczema("Atopic" refers to a group of diseases where there is often an inherited tendency to develop other allergic conditions, such as asthma and hay fever). Cheilitis(Inflammation of the skin on and around the lips)is often seen in atopic dermatitis. Diagnosed by blood 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.
If the symptoms persist, then it would be best to get it confirmed from a dermatologist
I hope it helps. Take care and please do keep me posted in case you have any additional doubts. Kind regards.

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