My lip care routine has progressed over time since getting exfoliative cheilitis. This was some of the things I did.
1) Purchase new, small nail clippers
Peeling your lips with your hand aggressively will only stop your healing process. You should try to clip the hanging skin in an effort to try not to damage the skin still attached. I found that nail clippers are a great tool to help with that. You should disinfect your nail clippers before use with rubbing alcohol and let it dry for about a minute before using on your lips. This should happen every time! This will decrease the chance of infection on very sensitive lips. Also, make sure that you do not cut off skin that is still attached to your lips! You should only clip it if it is clearly detached. I found that clipping dead detached skin made it not only okay to look at my lips aesthetically, but it also decreased the pressure on the skin still alive by the dead skin.
2) Use Straws for drinking
I found that every time my lips got in contact with water, they turned white and it was so obvious and just made me insecure, so I decided to use straws every time I consumed a liquid substance. It is safe to say I used straws for the first five months. I also ate food using a fork or a spoon. Like instead of spaghetti, I would make macaroni etc. I found that the less disturbed my lips were the faster they healed.
3) Used Lansinoh lanolin nipple cream
Like I mentioned before, this was by far my favorite product, I used it just once a day but my lips would be moisturized the whole day. After using this product, I no longer felt the burning sensation that you feel from the inflammation. I can only say that my lips felt really really good. I believe that the body usually tells us what it needs or what it causing damage, and the lanolin was definitely such a relief for my lips. It is so much easier to apply after your lips have dried though, So make sure you wait like 15-20 minutes after you have brushed your teeth.
4) Saline solution
Like I mentioned before, I basically avoided anything getting on my lips. This made it easier to clean or to keep the lanolin that I would apply in the morning, However, I sometimes would have some food stuck on my lips and it would be difficult to remove. I started using saline solution because it was gentle enough on the lips but also an effective cleaner. I would dip a clean cotton ball into saline solution and dab onto my lips to get any food debris out of the lips skin.
5) Toms all natural toothpaste
One thing I discovered was that my lips could not handle whitening toothpastes as it did before. I started using an all natural toothpaste and my lips were less irritated as a result. I got this toothpaste delivered to me online, but I would recommend any natural toothpaste that you can get in your country. The main goal is to create less irritation, so any natural toothpaste could work.
These are some of the things I incorporated into my routine that really helped me heal and stopped my urge to just peel the whole thing off. Please do not hesitate to leave a comment, if you have a question. Also, try to share this info with as much people as you can. I do not really know how blogs are supposed to work, but I just want people to take something from this.
