Cuts and Wounds of the Mouth and Lips
To take care of cuts and wounds:
Chapped Lips
Chapped lips are the result of dry, cracked skin on your lips often due to cold or dry weather, sun exposure, frequently licking your lips or dehydration. You can treat chapped lips at home with the use of lip balm or ointment to ease any discomfort.
Overview
What are chapped lips?
You know the feeling — dry, tight, cracked lips. They may even be scaly or peeling. You’ve got lip balm stashed in your purse, car and house, ready to go when you need to provide your lips some TLC.
Chapped lips can happen any time of year, but wintertime can be especially brutal on your lips when the air is cold and dry. The skin on your lips is thinner and more sensitive than the skin on the rest of your body. This is because your lips don’t contain any oil glands. As a result, they’re at risk of becoming dry and chapped.
This inflammation of your lips — also called cheilitis — has many possible causes. Your lips are exposed to the elements more than the rest of your body. They can become chapped from sun exposure, get irritated in dry or cold environments, react to chemicals in your lip balm and more.
Most people have experienced chapped lips at some point, but for some, cheilitis can be a more serious medical problem.
Types of cheilitis
When you think of chapped lips, you probably just think of the kind caused by cold, dry air. But there are many different types. The source of lip inflammation helps healthcare providers determine the type of cheilitis:
- Actinic cheilitis: Frequent sun exposure.
- Angular cheilitis: Fungal infection at the corners of your mouth.
- Contact cheilitis: Allergic reaction.
- Drug-induced cheilitis: Reaction to a medication, like retinoids.
- Eczematous cheilitis: Flare-up due to eczema.
- Exfoliative cheilitis: Continuous peeling of your lips caused by repetitive behaviors like lip-licking.
- Infective cheilitis: Viral or bacterial infection, like herpes simplex.
- Glandular cheilitis: Thickening of your salivary glands.
- Granulomatous cheilitis: Persistent, painless swelling of your lips.
Symptoms and Causes
Chapped lips commonly occur in cold or hot dry weather. Others causes of chapped lips include sunburn, frequently licking your lips and dehydration.
What are the symptoms of chapped lips?
Some of the most common cheilitis symptoms may include:
- Dry or scaling lips.
- Cracking skin.
- Peeling skin.
- Itching.
- Mild pain.
- Sores on your lips and in your mouth.
Do chapped lips hurt?
They can. Chapped lips are dry and tight and can be very uncomfortable. Severely chapped lips may cause painful stinging reactions when eating, especially with citrus fruit, along with spicy and salty foods.
What causes chapped lips?
Different types of cheilitis have different causes. Chapped lips causes include:
- Sunburn.
- Cold weather.
- Hot or dry weather.
- Frequently licking your lips.
- Medical conditions (allergies, thyroid disorder, some autoimmune disorders) or reaction to a medication.
- Vitamin deficiency (iron, vitamin B).
- Dehydration.
What are the risk factors for this condition?
Chapped lips can occur in anyone at any age. Children and adolescents who lick their lips often are susceptible to chapped lips. They can develop a condition called lip licker’s dermatitis which results in a rash around their mouths as well as chapped lips.
People who live in an area where the weather is dry and hot or in a climate where the temperature is cold experience chapped lips frequently. Seasonally chapped lips occur in the winter and can be common in people who experience dry skin.
Cuts and Wounds of the Mouth and Lips
Children often get minor cuts and wounds to the mouth and lips. These happen while playing, climbing, or playing sports. Most of these injuries can be handled at home with first aid. The gums, tongue, and lips have a lot of blood supply. These areas may bleed a lot when cut. These areas also tend to heal quickly and are less likely to need stitches than other parts of the body.
First aid for shallow cuts and wounds
To take care of cuts and wounds:
- Calm your child and tell them you can help.
- Wash your hands well.
- Apply pressure with a clean cloth or bandage for several minutes to stop bleeding.
- If the wound is on the lips or outside area of the mouth, wash it well with soap and water once bleeding has stopped. Don’t scrub the wound. Remove any dirt particles from the area and let the water from the faucet run over it for several minutes. A dirty cut or scrape that is not cleaned well can cause scarring. After it is clean:
- Apply an antiseptic lotion or cream.
- Give your child an ice pop or ice cube to suck. This helps reduce bleeding and swelling.
- Check the area each day and keep it clean and dry.
- Don’t blow on the wound, as this can cause germs to grow.
- Use a sunscreen (sun protection factor, or SPF, at least 15 or greater) on healed cuts and wounds to help prevent scarring. Don’t use in the first 1 to 2 weeks after injury as it is still healing during this time.
- Give your child an ice pop or ice cube to suck on to help reduce bleeding and swelling.
- Check the area each day and keep it clean.
When should I get immediate medical care for my child?
Your child’s healthcare provider will talk with you about treatment for cuts and wounds of the mouth that need more than minor treatment at home. Get your child quick medical care for cuts and wounds of the mouth that are:
- Bleeding and don’t stop after 10 to 15 minutes of direct pressure. If the bleeding is extreme, hold pressure for at least 10 minutes without stopping. If the cloth becomes soaked with blood, put a new cloth on top of the old cloth. Don’t lift the original cloth. Keep in mind that facial wounds often bleed heavily, even under normal circumstances.
- Deep or longer than 1/2 inch
- Large and on the face
- Caused by a puncture wound or dirty or rusty object
- Embedded with debris, such as dirt, stones, or gravel
- Ragged or have separated edges
- Caused by an animal or human bite
- Extremely painful or if you think there may be a broken bone (fracture) or head injury
- Showing a loose or broken tooth (this is better addressed by a dentist)
- Showing signs of infection, such as increased warmth, redness, swelling, or fluid that leaks out
- Going from the inside of the mouth through to the outside of the skin
- Going through the border or outline of the lip (where the red of the lip meets the skin)
Also get your child medical care if:
- Your child hasn’t had a tetanus shot in the past 5 years, or if you are unsure when your child’s last tetanus shot was given
- You are concerned about the wound or have any questions
Preventing mouth injuries
To prevent mouth injuries in children:
- Teach your child never to walk or run while holding an object in their mouth.
- Teach your child not to suck or chew on hard, sharp, or pointed objects, such as pencils.
- Teach your children not to put their face up to an animal’s face or mouth
- Have your child wear a mouth guard for sports activities that could cause injury.
