Heres some information for you about me and my lip problems.

I have had the problem pretty bad effecting my lower lip mainly(because its the most visable) for about 3 years or more, however my upper lip has been a problem for about as long as i can remember.

I am 21 and live in Australia. probably at the age of 5 or 6 i can always remember the centre section of my upper lip would peel or i would peel it, it was a bit of a habit and i never really cared.. i just knew that it probably shouldnt have been happening and that i should stop, but i never really did. and at the age of around 16 or 17 i began to realise that it was becoming noticable and may be a problem. and i think that this one section set off the entire major problem that i am dealing with now. By giving my upper lip a lot more attention (more picking, licking, touching) it progressively got worse in that it jsut didnt feel right so i began using lip balms(which i believe are a major cause of the bigger problem) I'd use it on the upper lip and lower jsut to make the whole feeling better.

I believe that the upper section being peeled off was always more tender and sticky which would attach to the lower lip and damage it. By using the lip balms, it softens the lips and stops lips from using their own natural skin oils. It also makes them softer and areas that are usually normal elasticity are now even more elastic because of the balm which progressievly makes the lips worse even tho you think your fixing them.

After about 2 years of this i found the bottom lip becan to be my main problem rather than the upper lip. I also had a bad case of sunburn on the lower lip and i think that was another reason for the severity of the problem. i jsut never let them heal. I continued to use balm on it all for about another year until i realsied that all the balms and all their chemicals and menthols.. etc may be to blae. So i got right off every balm and found the lips to be dryer. I then began using a natural paw paw ointment on jsut the original section of the upper lip and nothing on the lower.

For a long time i would constantly lick and bite at areas of the lower lip trying to make it normal and i was constantly checking with fingers, licking, and biting to see if they were normal yet. Obviously the constant licking and touching is a real problem. its a viscious circle it seems. But when you think of all the normal ppl out there with beautiful lips, i wonder what percentage of their day do they spend licking, touching and peeling their lips... NONE, everyone may lick them occasionly but not spend the majority of their day messing with your lips.. i recon some days it would be 30 - 40% of my day and it would be on my mind forever. So obviously you have to break the cycle. If anyone licked, picked at and touched lips as much as i do they would have a similar problem to some extent or another.

As we all know there must be many causes but i generally think some people are more proned to it due to A general dry skin condition. The MAIN cause i believe is the cycle / habit of licking, peeling and moisturising of the lips. You have to break the cycle. I also strongly believe that this condition is linked to celiac disease. If your not familiar with it then look it up. Its not a very standard disease. It has many symptons and is stil being researched and documented. Many doctors are unfamiliar with it as well. In this day and age with processed foods and the like Celiac disease is only starting to come out of the woodwork. Its a gluten intolerance with your body and has adverse effects on your body and mind which leads to many social and psychological problems. Some people may suffer it very badly and some may not even know they suffer but it. However i believe the lips are a direct link to the disease to one extent or another. Its a yeast / glouten intolerance and you really should research it a bit.

I would eat a lot of bread and always getting on the piss with mates mainly Beer. These things i believe really flare up the condition. I now eat a lot less bread and not as much beer, along with a more natural diet (less additives and pre packaged SHIT). Lots of water, and the Fish oil, Evening promise oil and Mainly Breaking the cycle of licking etc has seen a great improvement in my lips.

Its hard to break the cycle because your lips will be worse for a while but you just have to. DOnt Lick, Dont peel, only break off the flaking areas they should jsut break/flake off, never peel. Dont use moisturiser - only on the top part for me. and only on lower lip only lightly when maybe taking with someone but only if it is really necessary, for me maybe once a week other than that i resist. Lots of water obviously.

Get into some exercise, it makes you feel better and increases blood flow which can only be good for healing and aiding the lips. minimise sunburn and prolongued kissing. Its the Rubbing that worsens it. Just kiss more delicately and tell your partner you have delicate lips.

Thanks, i hope it can help, but thats my view on it. Two main causes - 1) The licking/peeling Habit along with lip balms. 2) Diet incliuding celiac disease.
I strongly reccomend that anyone interested in healing, finding the cause for your problem look into caliac disease because theres some very interesting information you will find. My problem hasnt healed and i dont expect it to for a long while with all the grief ive given to my lips over the years but it has made a massive improvement in the last few months with the fish and evening promise oils and Willpower. Ps im a very social person and as you can imagine this is a major problem but it it managable and lets hope it may come good one day. Jsut remember most people have their problems and this is what makes you and its likely that very few people really notice it because general chapped lips are fairly common.
OK