The Art of Animaling

Thursday, September 25, 2008

i have friggin cheilitis

I am so bloody IRRITATED by this stupid condition! Been to the doctor twice already. He prescribed me steroids (Cutivate) and it went off...then it came back again with a vengeance!!! Bah! On the second visit, he said not to overuse the steroid (not supposed to use for more than a week, only apply once a day...I think I used it for close to a month T_T) and prescribed me some ointment instead (Protopic). It cleared up again. And came back again T_T

So I did a little research online on Lip Eczema, also known as Cheilitis. And found some interesting stuff. Below is an excerpt I found on Ezine @rticles.

Eczema Can Cause Your Lips To Swell
by: Julie Wellsworth

There are a number of uncomfortable and embarrassing symptoms that affect sufferers of eczema. Many of the sufferers claim that swollen lips cause more discomfort and embarrassment than any of the other symptoms put together. Swollen lips don’t just look bad, they can also hinder the speech and possibly even limit what the person can eat (hmm, mine not so serious).

The form of eczema that affects the lips is known as cheilitis. This causes roughness to the lips and can make them very sensitive, causing them to itch (yup). Contrary to popular belief, this type of eczema is by no means contagious (oh thank the lord!).

For most people this eczema starts off with just a few rough patches on both of their lips, sometimes they are difficult to see, however the sufferer is perfectly aware of them because they are painful to the touch (yup, had the patches but not painful, just itchy). These rough patches are not normally located inside the mouth, normally they are located where the lip joins onto the normal skin of the face (yup, damn irritating, have to slather lip balm outside of the lips and look like a retard who couldn't apply her lip balm properly). The swollen lips sometimes come hand in hand with red patches and dryness of other parts of skin (only on the lips for me, thank God).

The affected areas should be moisturized on a frequent basis, sometimes the use of steroid creams could be considered. Desonoid is one such cream that is approved for use on the lips and face.

Good old Vaseline can be used to relieve the sufferer of the symptoms of extreme dryness. Lip balms containing help oils are believed to be especially beneficial to sufferers, and shea butter lip balms can also provide some much needed relief (okie dokie, will try it out).

Everybody is different, so what works for one person may not work for you. You may have to experiment with a number of different lip balms before you find the one that works for you. As a general rule of thumb however you should steer clear of any lip balms that contain fragrances as these can dry out your lips (does this mean I can't wear any of my lippies and glosses anymore T_T).

Chemicals contained in toothpaste or mouthwash can be a contributing factor to eczema, and so this should be considered (har...is Darlie safe?).

If the condition doesn’t clear up by using over the counter medications then you should defiantly go to see your doctor or dermatologist. It’s a good idea to get to the root of the problem, and so you could consider having an allergy test done to find out what you are allergic to (I'm like going backwards, from doc to pharmacy sheesh).

You can also find more information at nodular eczema causes and treat eczema.

EczemaCureTreatment.com is a comprehensive resource to inform individuals suffering from ezcema about symptoms, prevention and treatment options.

During my research, I also stumbled across this girl's blog and her cure for lip eczema.
Click --> http://qiqichan.blogspot.com/2007/11/cure-for-my-lip-eczema.html

I laughed out loud when I read one of the comments, below is an excerpt:

"I need some relief and now. I am about to rip my top lip off my face!!! I have had this something for about 9 months and in the past month it has gotten increasingly worse and is to the point of stinging, some itching, swelling and I went to my internal medicine doctor because my dermatologist could not get me in until May. I cannot wait till May..."

It was posted by Danette Montgomery. I feel your pain. I feel like ripping off my top lip right about now T_T

I'm going to the pharmacy today to get the Vaseline therapy she recommended. I hope it works for me T_T

by CharSiu at 11:00 AM |