Thank you and goodbye, cured (enough to be happy). A must read for all sufferers.

Okay so I posted on here after the worse Christmas ever thanks to my E.C. Burning lip pain and peeling lips ruined it.

It got to the point I would sit in the house all weekend just worrying about ever feeling normal again.

WHAT I DID
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I figured something I was doing was causing my E.C, so I basically stopped EVERYTHING:

1. Stopped using mouth wash
2. Stopped drinking alcohol
3. Stopped using shaving foam
4. Stopped using shampoo / conditioner / shower gel
5. Changed toothpastes
6. Rinsed lips and mouth with plain water after any unavoidable chemicals/irritants going near them.
7. Used only Vaseline with aloe vera initially if they felt too dry.
8. Started going to the gym and using the steam room.

Amazingly, the intermittent burning sensation hasn't happened since, and the skin on my lips has never become thick, dried and peeled in the way it did before.

I'm 100% convinced the underlying cause is one or more of things things.

Between Christmas and now, my lips are getting better and better every day. I can't believe it, it's not a problem for me any more.


MY LIPS NOW
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1. The skin is slightly thicker than a normal lip, but it doesn't feel rough anymore and appears to be getting thinner all the time. It occasionally peels a barely noticeable amount. It is in no way annoying, uncomfortable, and it looks normal.

2. Recently my top lip has peeled slightly and hurt a little. I was recently in -11'c temperatures and think this was a one-off.

3. The small cluster of foredoyce spots that were starting to pop up in the center of my top lip will probably stay there forever, but no new ones are appearing (thank god).

4. Sometimes my lip becomes over-moist. I think my lips are so used to having to produce extra moisture, now that they are nearly healed it's producing too much and my lips. No more mega dryness.

WHAT I DO NOW
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1. I no longer apply Vaseline, it's not necessary any more. I have done occasionally when going out in the cold.

2. I'm slowly re-introducing drinking alcohol, shower gel, shampoo etc in small amounts. So far this doesn't look to be reversing the healing.

3. I've stopped going to the gym and this doesn't appear to be reversing the healing.


MY CONCLUSION
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Personally I think the main cause is mouth wash, if you're using mouth wash and have E.C - stop immediately, seriously, please. Also, I find that all the times my lips haven't been an issue in the past, was when I was using Sensodyne Fresh Mint / Total Care Gel toothpaste with no Sodium Lauryl Sulphate.

If you have E.C I strongly suggest you do what I did. Which is stop EVERYTHING for at least a month, then slowly re-introduce things.

I think my doctor was right. This is contact dermatitis from chemicals / irritants. She said it would take 5 or 6 months of stopping these things before I'm healed. It's only been 2 months and even if my lips don't get any better than they are now, I don't care - they're a million times better now :)


Smile you can be happy again, I am :) Please take this advice what have you got to lose. Tweet