Hi, I never thought I would be writing this but I thought it is only fair to you guys to let you know how I healed my exfoliative cheilitis. I suffered from EC for approximately 3 years, throughout my time at university, of which I am now in my third year. I struggled through those 3 years, using vaseline/blistex/carmex/aquaphor to mitigate the problem, sometimes just biting away the peeling skin to avoid embarrassment. The ec got so bad it was causing me severe
Depression (enough for me to drop out of university for 5 weeks) and I finally went to see a doctor to try and solve my embarrassing problem. The first two doctors I saw were useless, telling me that my anxiety/
Depression was causing me to focus on my lips (rather than the other way around) and that when my mood lifted my lips would follow. Eventually I changed doctors practices and I saw a doctor who understood my problem, that my
Depression was being caused by my lip problem, and offered a treatment accordingly. He took a look at my peeling lips and commented that it looks like an ecezemetous condition, and advised that I use a steroid cream (Daktacort, a 1% hydrocortisone), twice a day for a fortnight. During this time, on the doctors recommmendation, I used emollients (cetraben/epaderm) approx 12 times a day. I firmly believe that exfoliative cheilitis (peeling lips) is a form of eczema; people have commented on here that they have tried steroid creams in combination with things like vaseline/aquaphor. But, if this is a form of eczema (which I strongly believe it is) then it needs a steroid cream combined with an emollient. If you had eczema anywhere else on your body, you would not use vaseline/aquaphor to heal it, and this is no different with your lips. I tried every treatment suggested on here, including constant aquaphor,
healthy Diet etc and none of it healed my ec. What healed my ec was using Daktacort morning and evening, combined with a regularly applied emollient (I used cetraben 12 times during the day and epaderm at night). I think that Daniel Macmiller is on to something in saying that constant moisture heals this, because it is an eczema condition, but if using the right treatment it will not take 11 months like he suggests. I was healed almost fully in 14 days. You can use the steroid cream (Daktacort) for 14 days, morning and evening, and then you need to take a break for 1 week. During the first 14 days my bottom lip healed fully using this treatment, the only bit that I was waiting for to fully heal was the middle triangle of the upper lip (although this did show some improvement in the first 14 days). After 1 weeks break from the steroid (in the meantime I was still regularly using the cetraben/epaderm) I did 7 more days of Daktacort, and this finally healed the upper lip. Before you ask I am sorry but I will not post pictures of my condition, I had one picture of my lips when they were bad which I have now deleted, and now my lips look pretty much just like you what you'd expect regular lips would look like. But, to try an describe it to you, I had all the symptoms that I was reading on here, the white line building up after a few hours with no lip balm, the burning sensation, the cracking and peeling of skin etc, revealing a raw under skin. I'm sorry I am too embarrassed to post a picture but I would deffo say that what I had was exactly what you guys were experiencing (and I have been checking up on this forum on and off for about 2 years, just been too scared to post). So, to confirm, I healed my ec by using Daktacort, which is a 1% hydrocortisone cream (and also I should add that although this cream is antifungal as well, I had a swab taken of my lips and the result came back that I had no fungal infection), evening and night, combined with an emollient (cetraben) which I applied roughly 12 times a day. It is important to note that when you apply the steroid (Daktacort) that you leave at least 30 mins for it to soak in before putting on the emollient. So, just as an example, I would wake up (maybe around 8.15/30am), apply the emollient (cetraben)straight away, then at 9am apply the Daktacort. At approx 9.45 I would apply the cetraben again and use this throughout the day, until about 9pm when I would apply the Daktacort again. I hope this makes it clear. Like I said I am not the typical person to post in this type of thing but I feel like I have been on a really tough journey and I just want you guys to get healed as well, because I know how horrible this is and how it can ruin your life completely. If you are trying the constant moisture or any other treatment method please just give what I have suggested a go, because it healed me (after I had suffered with this for 3 years) and I hope it can heal you too in a much quicker time than you may expect. I would say that it healed me completely in 28 days (although within 14 days I saw dramatic improvement to the point where I could go out with my friends and barely notice anything out of the ordinary). I will try and come back on in a few days to answer your questions if you have any, but please just try what I have suggested. The products I have used are Daktacort and Cetraben/Epaderm. Wish you guys all the best.