Dry, Chapped Lips

Your lips feel tight, pull together, develop fine cracks that split when you smile or speak. You lick them, apply balm, drink more water — and still they stay dry. Sometimes a crack in the centre bleeds, sometimes the skin peels away in fine strips, sometimes every touch burns, every bite of food, every kiss.

Medicine names reasons that hold true: dry air, vitamin deficiency, too little fluid, cold wind, certain medications. All of that contributes. And yet you may have already noticed that your lips crack exactly when it is not cold enough to explain it. Or that they stay intact when you laugh a lot and speak a lot and are kissed a lot — and crack again as soon as you are alone for a long stretch.