Recurring Lip Infection, not just chapped but worse

Thanks, I have the same symptoms so I know where to start.

Miss M 2015-08-11

I have had this problem since age 10, it recurrs and recurrs and drives me mad. Some days I cant even leave the house. I have been in tears over this many times.

Today I decided enough was enough and all the blistex, canesten, apple cider and hydrocortisone in the world wasn't enough and sought advice from a dr friend.

Her advice was EUMOVATE cream. Apparently it can be bought over counter however you should say it's for your arm or elbow as they will make you go to a Dr appointment first if you say for lips which we all know can take ages and then they don't prescribe it and tell you to drink more water.

I am going to get it today and will keep everyone updated but my Dr friend said "apply and wait for the magic" so hopefully this could be the cure!

Guys I believe I have found a cure. EUMOVATE cream. I went to Boots earlier all Bozo mouthed itching pressing my lips together only for them to feel wet etc.... I put this cream on the itching stopped instantly. It is now 6 hours later and I have had 3 applications. I have not needed blistex, vaseline, carmex or anything since the 2nd application and have been getting on with things and for once my lips have not been on my mind. Again, I must stress when the pharmacist asks you what it is for do NOT say you are putting it on your lips.

I know this could be due to the fact that its not meant to go on your lips but to be honest I don't care - all I know is that it works and for once I am not spending an evening being a slave to my blistex cream and being unable to smile due to pain...

i hope this helps xxx

Okay I have the same thing but it's been getting better with aquaphor but it's also helps if you use face wash. I don't know what kind because it can vary.

Try using petroleum jelly. The exact same thing happens to my lips.I apply it about every 15 minutes or so. The yellow cruelties should go away in a few days.

As I have search for this issue. I am also facing it. It somwhat like herpes simplex. which is caused by the deficiency of vitamin B12, less use of animal meat, fish, and dairy products etc. For this I think we should use more fluids to avoid dehydratio n and use of these protein foods.

Same thing here. Sun exposure is a trigger.

I am replying to my own post here, but wanted to get the info out there. Try Curad silver solution antimicrobial wound gel. Kills virus, bacteria and fungus, hydrates and forms a barrier. Takes the guesswork out of what the cause is and won't work against you like it would if you used an antibiotic cream for example, and the cause was fungal, the antibiotic cream could make it worse. Anyway, I used this last week and my lips were almost healed. Then I went out in the sun and despite having SPF 30 heavily on my lips and surrounding area, I now have the worst outbreak ever. Possibly ingredients in the sunscreen made it worse as well. Once this situation sets up, it opens the body to all kinds of microbes and allergies that would not have been a problem before the skin was compromised. Once skin is compromised regardless of the cause, one can get a secondary bacterial or fungal infection even at the same time. In any case, I hope someone tries this and it helps them. I am not saying it's the be-all and end-all but if someone can be helped then that is a good thing. I do not get cold sores so I don't think it's viral and I take lots of quality supplements so I know I am not deficient in B-vitamins. One more thing....for the folks that have found relief, even transient, with anti-fungal creams, try drinking pau d'arco tea from Wisdom of the Ancients. If you can't handle it, take the pills but use the tea to swish around in your mouth and then spit. It's one of the best anti-fungal remedies out there. When the vines die in the jungle they don't decay as nothing will grow on them. Great stuff! If you do have systemic fungal overgrowth I also recommend White Mountain Bulgarian Yogurt. Very sour, very good....loaded with probiotics.

Its Mimi

Mine turned out to be an allergy with lipstick... my body is rejecting all lipsticks.. i can only use vaseline pure monot (not the petroleum one).

i couldnt figure out its lipstick because its been long i stoped using lipstick and the problem was prevailing...

actually what happened with me is that, after getting the break out with lipsick, the lips became sensitive. it was important to keep the lips away from things that can irrittate it...

i am not allergic to spicy food but when the lips are not well it must be avoided.. so i avoided spicy food, changed my toothpaste and used that of children toothpaste. whenever eat oranges i made sure that it doesnt touches my lips. i used candid b cream on the lips, the bumps and itching went away... and when stoped the cream after 7 days it didnt got back... it came back only when i tried a new lipstick... only then i realised it was lipstick reaction. i tried vegan lipstick, antiallergic lipstick nothing worked!! am fine without lipstick..

i feel really sad though.. i loved lipstick. i feel really down i cant use lipstick... but health comes first.

I only had this happen once about 12 years ago. Right now I am immune depressed battling a cold when it came on which may contribute. I've had very dry lips for about 3 weeks leading up to it....constant chapstick, etc. I own about every brand on the shelves and was just rotating about ever 20mins. Then a couple nights ago it turned for the worse. To what I believe is cheilitis. Painfully hard, swollen, red, blistery and yellow covering all of my lips and extending beyond. Almost to my chin. SO EMBARRASSING. I work in the airline field so imagine my embarrassment having to go to work with the public so closely when it hurt to talk, eat, drink...I couldn't open my mouth to brush my teeth that first day. So what do I do when I wake up like that with only two hours of sleep? I go straight to the drug store and buy the cheapest antibacterial + pain relief ointment, anti-fungal cream (jock itch), and hydrocortizone ointment, generic (was cheaper than the cream). Mix all three, applied every couple hours. I looked like I had infected plastic surgery! Overnight I put coconut oil on them (a natural antifungal)... Day two, things starting to get flaky and irritating, but pain more manageable. I hang in there...by the late evening when doing my cream sheets of skin slide off...so I gently them all of it come off as long as I don't have to pull. My lips were healing! Coconut oil again overnight. I looked almost normal, although still puffy and red and minor soreness to the touch. Day three waking up today looking great. Still applying everything. I will do the creams another day, then move onto that aqua lip ointment folks have had luck with. I bought carmex the day before this breakout happened and used religiously. Not sure if any connection, but I used to use carmex 12 years ago too. I will avoid this one now just in case. What I also did: completely cut out anything with sugar, refined carbs, etc for these past couple days. Took vitamin e, multi-vit, fish oil, probiotics. Not sure if these helped, but couldn't not hurt to experiment if it's a chronic issue for you.
Good luck to the rest of you!

Hi, is this still working for you?

Hi everyone, I've had similar problems a time or two a year for the past 4 years. Last year I got it a lot more frequently. A steroid cream from the doctor slowly helped it for me. An oral surgeon and dentist had no idea what it was. The dermatologist said maybe an allergy as I had always assumed but to what she didn't know. She gave a list of some allergens, one of which was gum (particularly wintergreen flavors). I've avoided all gum this past year and used exclusively aquaphor and nothing else on my lips and have not had another recurrance. It might be an allergy to gum flavorings! Weird but worth a try!

And it hasn't come back since then?

I think it showed up 1 time now that I think about it but I put the steroid cream on it immediately and was able to get it to go away without the full blown itchy, weepy, crusty problems. Maybe I came across the gum flavorings in some other food. It happens frequently when I use lipstick/glosses, so I always avoid everything but aquaphor. Hope this works for you

I found the answer after 2 horrible months! I bought some over the counter cold sore med at Walgreens 2 days ago, hoping for a miracle. It worked! I am sooooo much better now. My derm prescribed a Hydrocotisone gel, which helped but did not heal the problem. I am amazed how fast this worked. $6.