lipshitz sorry but if you have been removing the dead skin and not letting your lips grow wild and naturally then you have not done the leave it alone theory at all! the idea of leaving it alone is for the layers of skin to build up! i find it interesting that you dindt apply anything to the lips but did force the crusts off by clipping or pulling them off when they bulit up to much and you were unsuccesul after a whole year of applying nothing this has got me even more convinced that the crust play a major role in the healing process and thats its crucial to leave the crusts on as long as possible so the skin underneath is protected. what are your thoughts? i know how hard it is to not take the crusts off i did the same thing when i was working for 6 months so dont feel alone this condition is very hard to live with and plays huge pressure on everybodies mental stataus. thank you for your post and good luck with yopur condition i hope you get healed!