hmm...Well I'm thinking whatever triggered this condition has caused the the outter most layer to dry up for some reason, be it an allergy, trauma, etc. You should ask your doctor if he/she thinks that the inflammation is solely responsible for this or if some kind of serious, irreparable damage could be done to the lips. I was experimenting with hydrocortisone along with the most healing method after my Protopic trial and I noticed that it did seem to make it more manageable. This kind of behavior is similar to how eczema reacts. Eczema can be triggered by stress, an allergy I believe, and trauma—I think. The demographic for this disorder seems to be primarily young adult males though I believe. Hormones may be a factor as well, but again, my tests were always perfect.