Aa
dry patch on lip
hi, i have a dry patch on the top of my lip. it started off about 2 months ago as a small discolored dot, then progressed into a darker patch bigger patch (<1cm wide). Now, it looks dry and and slightly flaky, and feels weird when i touch it with my tongue, but i can't really pick at the dry skin. it also feels sort of heavy, not numb or slightly tingling (not like pins and needles) but like i can feel something there. also when i stretch the skin i can see white spots behind it.
what is it, and what can i do to treat it, tried moisturizing with Vaseline constantly, but doesn't help. Could this be a sign of lip cancer?
any advice would help. thanks.
what is it, and what can i do to treat it, tried moisturizing with Vaseline constantly, but doesn't help. Could this be a sign of lip cancer?
any advice would help. thanks.
I had this problem for about a month, the patch was very small and disappeared after applying some generic cold sore medication. Two weeks later it was back and had spread to the entire left side of my upper lip.
I tried more of the cold sore medication, to no effect. Then neosporin, abreva (entirely too expensive) and tea tree oil. A combination of abreva and tea tree oil (eventually just tea tree oil and blistex) and the patch has begun to peel off after 3 days of using tea tree oil. I went ou tand got some Lotrimin (clotri~) and applied a thin layer morning and night. That seems to be helping, the patch had begun to spread even further but I think I caught it in time.
Tea tree oil seems to be the way to go! Natural and not too harsh.
I also realized that letting my lip dry out did not help, constantly moisturizing with Blistex caused it to peel.
I tried more of the cold sore medication, to no effect. Then neosporin, abreva (entirely too expensive) and tea tree oil. A combination of abreva and tea tree oil (eventually just tea tree oil and blistex) and the patch has begun to peel off after 3 days of using tea tree oil. I went ou tand got some Lotrimin (clotri~) and applied a thin layer morning and night. That seems to be helping, the patch had begun to spread even further but I think I caught it in time.
Tea tree oil seems to be the way to go! Natural and not too harsh.
I also realized that letting my lip dry out did not help, constantly moisturizing with Blistex caused it to peel.
Wow....I cam across this site because I have the same thing going on. I have never had anything like this that I can remember, at least not to this magnitude. I had a small white patch of odd feeling rash on my upper left lip. It spread across both of my lips and now on a portion of my left lower lip. It's very dry and can only be seen when the skin is pulled like while smiling. When I smile, my skin tears in those areas. I'm left with painful slits. The edges of my lips where my skin is on my face is rough and bleeding in some areas. I now have a blue spot on my left lower lip. I see a dermatologist in 2 weeks...but in two weeks???? Will my lips shrivel up and fall off??? I see some help here in the previous posts that I will surely take advantage of. Thank you.
Ashley
Ashley
Well, I've had this same problem on my bottom lip for 9-10y ears now. I am female and 45 and I hate it!! I have read every post and I haven't found a common thread that would shed any light on what we all have in common. Mine lasts for several weeks, disappears for a couple then it is right back again. I have tried many things, and nothing seems to help. I don't know what to try next. I have taken prescriptions as well as over the counter, and used moisturizing lotions for extremely dry skin. Nothing helps. If I ever figure out how to get rid of it - I will be sure and let everyone know. (And no, I'm not on birth control)
i think the question we should ask ourselves.. are we all on birthcontrol? im wondering if its the BC giving my the upper lip dry spot
I am just going to post about my experience here and hope this will help a few people with the same kind of issue I had.
I still don't know what exactly was on my lip. I have some idea, though. At first I just thought it was dry and peeling in that spot, but then it began to feel different than a chapped lip when I ran my tongue over it. It felt rough, grainy, and numbish - it didn't exactly tingle, but I had reduced sensation in the spot. The perfect way to describe it was as if I had gotten a smear of superglue on that spot and it wasn't my real skin. I know a few of you know what that feels like!
The first occurrence was just a very tiny spot and it went away on its own after a few days. But it came back after a week. This time I was concerned, because it was larger and in the exact same spot. I came here and looked at all of the comments. Cancer, herpes, candida...Dear God, you people have scared the bejeesus out of me. I was also dealing with some type of eye swelling at the same time, as well as a swollen lymph node, so I was doubly freaked out.
I tried Blistex - no improvement. Burt's Bees regular lip balm - less dry, but still rough and definitely still numbish. Then I tried flax seed oil (Google "skin cancer, Budwig" and you'll see why) for one day. I didn't notice any real difference after a day. Then, I found a regular container of good old Carmex lying around and saw that it works on "fever blisters." I didn't think I had a fever blister; it didn't hurt, it wasn't swollen and the redness was rather barely visible. (In other words, this thing was only noticeable to me, and mainly annoying because of the texture/numbness.) After a few hours of applying Carmex, I noticed that the skin was starting to become the texture of a chapped lip, as if there's a loose layer that you could peel or scrape off. So, that's what I did. The layer of dead whatever (eww) came off, I cleaned my lip with a **** towelette and put on another layer of Carmex.
I can't say for sure that the flax oil helped at all - it seemed to be just the Carmex that finally had an effect. However, it could have been the combo of flax oil, then Carmex. (I doubt it, although flax oil works, it takes awhile to have an effect.)
That was two days ago, and today my lip is back to feeling mostly like my own lip! I've had a few more dry areas around the perimeter of the affected area to peel off. The texture of the lip is smooth, but a bit tight because it's fresh skin. I'm alternating between the Carmex and Burt's Bees, which don't dry as quickly as the Blistex. The numbness is about 10% of what it used to be, and I think in a day or two, I'll stop obsessing over it. (You know how you get hyper-sensitive to anything going on near your lips, teeth, gums, etc and keep "checking" it with your tongue, lol.)
I'm also crossing my fingers that this little thing stays gone this time! But at least I'll know what to do if my immune system takes a day off and lets this thing come back. Right now, I'm glad I didn't rush into the doctor and get my lip burned with liquid nitrogen before giving a few natural alternatives a try.
If the spot on your lip is painful, strangely colored, bleeding or anything of that sort, I really would recommend getting a doctor to check it out. If it does turn out to be something serious, do a little research on the Budwig diet before you agree to have your lip cut or burned off. We kind of need to keep those if at all possible ;)
By the way, I am not affiliated in any way with Carmex and in fact prefer Eos organic lip balms. (The little egg-shaped thingies that do not look at all like lip balm on the outside!) Happy and healthy lips, everyone!
I still don't know what exactly was on my lip. I have some idea, though. At first I just thought it was dry and peeling in that spot, but then it began to feel different than a chapped lip when I ran my tongue over it. It felt rough, grainy, and numbish - it didn't exactly tingle, but I had reduced sensation in the spot. The perfect way to describe it was as if I had gotten a smear of superglue on that spot and it wasn't my real skin. I know a few of you know what that feels like!
The first occurrence was just a very tiny spot and it went away on its own after a few days. But it came back after a week. This time I was concerned, because it was larger and in the exact same spot. I came here and looked at all of the comments. Cancer, herpes, candida...Dear God, you people have scared the bejeesus out of me. I was also dealing with some type of eye swelling at the same time, as well as a swollen lymph node, so I was doubly freaked out.
I tried Blistex - no improvement. Burt's Bees regular lip balm - less dry, but still rough and definitely still numbish. Then I tried flax seed oil (Google "skin cancer, Budwig" and you'll see why) for one day. I didn't notice any real difference after a day. Then, I found a regular container of good old Carmex lying around and saw that it works on "fever blisters." I didn't think I had a fever blister; it didn't hurt, it wasn't swollen and the redness was rather barely visible. (In other words, this thing was only noticeable to me, and mainly annoying because of the texture/numbness.) After a few hours of applying Carmex, I noticed that the skin was starting to become the texture of a chapped lip, as if there's a loose layer that you could peel or scrape off. So, that's what I did. The layer of dead whatever (eww) came off, I cleaned my lip with a **** towelette and put on another layer of Carmex.
I can't say for sure that the flax oil helped at all - it seemed to be just the Carmex that finally had an effect. However, it could have been the combo of flax oil, then Carmex. (I doubt it, although flax oil works, it takes awhile to have an effect.)
That was two days ago, and today my lip is back to feeling mostly like my own lip! I've had a few more dry areas around the perimeter of the affected area to peel off. The texture of the lip is smooth, but a bit tight because it's fresh skin. I'm alternating between the Carmex and Burt's Bees, which don't dry as quickly as the Blistex. The numbness is about 10% of what it used to be, and I think in a day or two, I'll stop obsessing over it. (You know how you get hyper-sensitive to anything going on near your lips, teeth, gums, etc and keep "checking" it with your tongue, lol.)
I'm also crossing my fingers that this little thing stays gone this time! But at least I'll know what to do if my immune system takes a day off and lets this thing come back. Right now, I'm glad I didn't rush into the doctor and get my lip burned with liquid nitrogen before giving a few natural alternatives a try.
If the spot on your lip is painful, strangely colored, bleeding or anything of that sort, I really would recommend getting a doctor to check it out. If it does turn out to be something serious, do a little research on the Budwig diet before you agree to have your lip cut or burned off. We kind of need to keep those if at all possible ;)
By the way, I am not affiliated in any way with Carmex and in fact prefer Eos organic lip balms. (The little egg-shaped thingies that do not look at all like lip balm on the outside!) Happy and healthy lips, everyone!
My dry flaky, slightly numb upper lip disappeared after i started using Calcichew Tablets that I had been prescibed for vit D defiency. I could not tell you how these two are connected but I ve perfectly soft lips now.
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