New Approach: Chapstick

My background info is at the end of the post.

Basically I got EC from biting moisturised chapped skin off my lips because I was smol and idiot.

I am currently using Chapstick Medicated at night and Apple and Strawberry during the day.

Why Chapstick? Natural balms, which I have been using for a longlonglonglong time (used Labello and The Body Shop Born Lippy from ages 12 to 20, used Lip Smackers ages 21 to 22, then from 23 onwards used natural lip balms like Melvita, Hurraw, The Body Shop, etc etc) tend to "wet" my lip crusts overnight. So I did the complete opposite of what people with healthy normal lips tell us to do and switched from natural to commercial balms. These have mineral oil (which I have always been against but now I feel it's important and lets the good ingredients do their work) and some other stuff in them.

Point is they are WAXY, not oily. The Medicated has menthol and camphor (again normals tell us to avoid these but I feel like these are the things that will help us factitious cheilitis sufferers). It also has exfoliative agents which make excess skin peel away without having to use any force or friction. I have been using it during the day today because I scrubbed my lips too hard with a wet washcloth yesterday and my lips died and went to hell. They were red and raw, but the Chapstick Medicated healed the scary rawness. But once they "heal" and aren't any bit raw I'll only use this at night and use the regular flavoured Chapsticks during the day.

For exfoliation of crusts I am using Ofra Lip Exfoliator. I apply it, leave it on for like a half hour, and lightly scrub my lips using a wet towel. This exfoliator is a gentle peel and not a gritty scrub. Gritty scrubs don't do isht for my lips. I may ditch this scrubbing for some time.

I will let you guys know how it goes and will keep you updated!


Background Info:

- Age: 24
- Years I have had EC: 10 to 12 years

- How I got it: I used to bite off and pick off chapped skin off my lips. Wasn't too hard since I used lip balm, so that softened the chapped skin, which I then bit off. Looking back... GURL WTF?

- Previously Tried Approaches:
-- Leave Alone (helped but I couldn't stick with it since I'm concerned with my appearance and like wearing lipstick)
-- Doctor's Visit (suggested I don't bite my lips and use Vaseline, basically moisture method lol, plus gave me a cream for oral lesions)
-- Diet Changes (I eat pretty healthy so the minor tweaks didn't help much)
-- Antibiotics (helped when I took them for my sinus infection but I can't take them for no reason)
-- Witch Hazel
-- Hemp Lip Balm

- Candida Test: Negative

- Diet: Mostly healthy.

- Other Health Issues:
-- Digestive issues if I don't take enough fiber and water.
-- Anxiety disorder after being hospitalised at age 21. Working on overcoming.
-- Agoraphobia (age 21. Working on overcoming.) Tweet