are you sure that the outer 20% of your bottom lip have cleared up? sometimes it only appears this way because by not applying anything and letting the crusts dry, they shrink in size... at least that's the case with mine. i used to get euphoric because i thought, the affected area shrank, but in fact it just temporarily did, as soon as they got wet, they had the same size as always
i think, by leaving them alone, they do not get better by EC affected area shrinking, but by peeling cycles becoming longer and crusts becoming thinner and thinner. one person left them alone for about 2 years and this is what happened... seems to take a long time but still promising great results. of course this doesn't work for everyone, but for some for sure.