Wow, good post. I will try some of the things you posted, cause i too think the immune system is over-reacting.
I think my trigger was blistex/chapstick & licking/picking the lips too much, but i stopped that for a while now.
Im still doing steam treatments & ive been seeing mild improvements. Like the red vessels i said i seen under the peeling skin, is now being covered with different cells (i want to say connective tissue or the skin matrix) but im not sure so i wont assume. But i do know im seeing changes. My peeling cycles are within a week now, but it used to be about 2 weeks. I think thats cause of the humidity from the steam treatment that turns over the cells quicker.
Anyways, ill come back in the next few weeks with a update.