What's this stuff on my lips?

July 27, 2009 9:30 PM

I often go on my break at work and realise a light layer of gunky stuff has built up on my lips. What on earth is it?

My job basically entails working in a 2-3 degree celsius (average) refrigerator, where I move boxes around and generally make myself ache all over. It's a temporary thing, and not the kind of work I am used to.

I've noticed that when I go on my first break, after 2 and a half hours, there's some gunky build up on my lips. It's odd because I don't notice it until my break. I haven't examined it closely -- I work at night, and I'm outside smoking by the time I notice it, so I can't see it, really -- but it rubs off with my work glove easily enough. It seems to ball up into small "blobs" when I rub it off.

I suspect it's related to the temperature, since I don't get any sort of build up like this in my normal day-to-day activities. And probably the change in temperature from cold to not-quite-as-cold when I step outside to smoke, since I never notice it until then.

This isn't a medical question or anything, I'm just really curious about what it is!

posted by nostrich to health & fitness (4 comments total)

Well, if your job does indeed entail heavy labor, it's possible it's just some kind of dried saliva-based buildup from heavy breathing (and/or licking your lips, I guess). I've noticed that I get something similar when I go on long runs after the better part of an hour, and those aren't even in near-freezing conditions (quite the contrary, lately). The cold could be contributing to dry air, which I imagine would help the process along (water part of saliva evaporates, leaving stuff behind).
posted by stufflebean at 9:38 PM on July 27

Maybe dried saliva? Are you staying hydrated while you're working? Maybe you're exerting yourself and either exhaling a lot or licking your lips to keep them warm?

Also, if you're working in some type of walk in fridge the air conditioning my be circulating some particulate matter which is clinging to your lips. Got any weird coloration when you blow you nose? You might should talk to you boss about it - you may not be working in the healthiest (read: safest) of environments. Then again, you smoke... so...
posted by wfrgms at 9:58 PM on July 27

What kind of toothpaste are you using, out of curiosity? If it happens to be Crest Prohealth, that's the problem, for sure.
posted by rbf1138 at 10:01 PM on July 27 [1 favorite]

Your lips have sebaceous glands,that moisturize/ protect them, cold dry environments trigger sebum production.
posted by hortense at 10:12 PM on July 27