My lips have more than the usual number of cracks.

October 20, 2009 2:32 PM

I can't get rid of these cracks in the corners of my mouth. I'm about to do as my grandfather threatened and rip my lips off.

For several years now, I've had constant cracks in the corners of my mouth, on my lips. Nothing I seem to do will get rid of them, and every morning whatever healing has happened overnight gets ripped open when I brush my teeth. Web-self-diagnosing says angular cheilitis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_cheilitis - pics are identical!), but none of the causing conditions there seem to apply- vitamin deficiency, old age, anemia, etc.

I'm a late 20s male, healthy and fit, with no outstanding conditions besides these stupid cracks on my lips. I don't take any medications, I eat decently enough, and I enjoy enough meat and beer to rule out a B vitamin deficiency, I'd think. I've seen both my GP and two dermatologists about this several times, and all they ever do is prescribe yet another cream that doesn't do anything. Allergy testing revealed nothing. There's nothing that seems to bring it on (i.e. cold weather)- it's just always here. The only real stress I have (I think) is my stupid lips.

I always have Blistex in my pocket, and I use Neosporin lip stuff at night. None of it helps. Suggestions, please! The previouslys here on AskMe didn't help...I can't take this anymore!

(anonymous because i'd like to be able to kiss someone again someday)

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (24 answers total)

Regular Neosporin has worked for me, but I only get them intermittently. I don't think meat and beer are enough to rule out vitamin deficiencies, though. Have you tried taking a multivit for a month to see if it makes a difference?
posted by small_ruminant at 2:36 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

When you saw the GP and derms, did they diagnose you with angular cheilitis? What "cream" did they prescribe? I had it a while back, with none of the causing conditions. I believe my doc prescribed triamcinolone. It was a foil tube of what looked like vaseline. The cracks went away in 3 days, and I'd been living with it for months, trying to treat it with carmex, blistex, etc.
posted by peep at 2:40 PM on October 20, 2009

I sometimes get them, and I find that what really aggravates them is night-time dribble (you know, sleeping on your side, dribble into the crack). What I do is put a really big glob of vaseline on them before going to bed (I mean a big glob - you're going to end up wiping some of it off in your sleep, so you want to have a good starting glob). The vaseline provides a barrier between saliva and the cracks. Greasy pillow is an unfortunate side effect.

Again in the daytime if I think they're going to get aggravated (as you mention, opening wide to clean teeth) they get the vaseline treatment. If I can keep them protected for a bit they heal up by themselves, until something sets them off again (dentists and cold weather in the main).

Perhaps also a small-headed electric toothbrush, so you can keep your mouth more closed while brushing?

Incidentally, I've none of the predisposing things mentioned in that article either. I trace mine to a vicious orthodontist who literally ripped my mouth open on several occasions - I think the healing from that initial trauma left me with 'weak spots' the are vulnerable to become cracked with much more minor insults.
posted by Coobeastie at 2:43 PM on October 20, 2009

Wiki says it can start as just straight up chapped lips, but then become exacerbated by a fungal infection. You've seen doctors. Have any of the creams been antifungal? Cause neosporin isn't going to help a fungal infection.

I do not recommend smearing Monistat on your mouth, mind you. But next time you go to see the doctor about it, ask if you might have a fungal infection.

That's all I've got.
posted by Stewriffic at 2:53 PM on October 20, 2009

See a dentist. It is most likely AC, but you may benefit from a cream with an anti-fungal agent, rather than, as i suspect, just a steroid that the others have prescribed.
Likely there is an anatomical factor that predisposes you to moisture buildup in this area. an evaluation of your mouth and all of the contributing factors may yield a better solution than you have been given thus far.
do NOT use carmex or other waxy products. they just fill the hole rather than allowing it to heal properly.
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:58 PM on October 20, 2009

I enjoy enough meat and beer to rule out a B vitamin deficiency, I'd think.

Despite the fact that my diet does not appear to be B vitamin deficient, I was plagued with cracks in the corners of my mouth until I started taking a B complex supplement. It cleared up within a week and is absolutely the only thing that has ever worked for me. (I too had tried all the creams and Blistex and Vaseline and Neosporin and everything.) If I slack off on the supplements the cracks occasionally start to reappear, but a few days back on the vitamins disappears them like magic.
posted by purplemonkie at 2:58 PM on October 20, 2009

Have you actually tried taking the B vitamins, or are you assuming? I think you should try the vitamins. They were the only thing that worked for my cracks, as well.
posted by Coatlicue at 3:12 PM on October 20, 2009

I frequently get the dry cracks in the corner of my mouth, but then again my lips are as dry as the Sahara thanks to Sjogren's Syndrome. I find that puttling a coat of Vaseline on them at bedtime helps quite a bit. On two separate occasions, I also got what looked to me like a cold sore in the corner of my mouth. My dentist, however, said that cold sores don't usually appear only in the corner of the mouth and that it was most likely a Vitamin A deficiency. I took some over-the-counter Vitamin A and the lesion healed in less than a week.
posted by Oriole Adams at 3:23 PM on October 20, 2009

Hydrate yourself with water and do not, for any reason, lick your lips or use your tongue to see if the cracks are still there/if your lips are chapped. Saliva really dries your lips out. Consider stopping the chapstick as well and seeing what happens with just hydration.
posted by gramcracker at 3:31 PM on October 20, 2009

Chapstick at bedtime. Put it in your pocket; when it's warm it goes on well. and the vitamins.
posted by theora55 at 3:41 PM on October 20, 2009

Here's something to try: lanolin. I don't know where to find it except in the baby aisle with bottles and nipples and pads for women with leaky breasts, but it's there. It's like a turbo charged Vaseline. It's for women whose breasts are sore from nursing, which I have to imagine is some serious soreness and oweyness. I didn't breastfeed, but bought it because I expected to, and it's great to have around. Maybe give it a go.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:41 PM on October 20, 2009

Definitely try the vitamins. I had the same problem and three days after I started a vitamin supplement I was back to normal.
posted by olinerd at 4:45 PM on October 20, 2009

I have dry lips normally, and take vitamins, and use chapstick at bedtime. However, what cured the cracks in the corners of my mouth, as others have alluded to, was an antifungal cream from my doctor (something with ketoconazole).
posted by gudrun at 4:51 PM on October 20, 2009

I agree with Coobeastie and Stewriffic that the origins are inside your mouth. I speculate that your mouth tissue could have anaerobic bacteria. Try brushing your teeth with the exploding bubble power of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Use full strength hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash and swish around as long as you can stand it. dry your lips completely with very clean towel or toilet paper. Then seal your lips against night time dribble. I am a fan of Bag Balm, which has germ-fighting properties.
posted by ohshenandoah at 4:58 PM on October 20, 2009

Maybe try changing your toothpaste. Sometimes certain toothpastes irritate my lips.
posted by twistofrhyme at 5:04 PM on October 20, 2009

I get these, and it is almost always as a result of drooling on myself during my sleep or snoring. The only cure I've found is well, making sure I'm not congested at night and not sleeping with a cough drop in my mouth. They heal with time - but slowly as hell, hurt like hell, and are embarrassing as hell.
posted by strixus at 5:46 PM on October 20, 2009

Nthing an anti-fungal cream. Prescription-strength. That's what worked for me.
posted by exphysicist345 at 6:53 PM on October 20, 2009

I am fairly certain it is a fungal infection--call or see your dentist for an antifungal agent--almost all the other treatments suggested will either do nothing or aggravate it. Until you see/talk to a dentist do not use antibacterials or OTC lip balms--not that they are necessarily dangerous--they will not help and can provide a medium for the fungal infection. With proper treatment they will disappear in several days
posted by rmhsinc at 7:00 PM on October 20, 2009

Try Aquaphor. Great stuff.
posted by christhelongtimelurker at 7:20 PM on October 20, 2009

I had this problem and did not get relief until a dermatologist prescribed clotrimazole and betaemethasone cream. I haven't had the problem since.
posted by FlyByDay at 8:36 PM on October 20, 2009

Lamasil or Tinactin worked for me. Both are over the counter antifungal preparations used for jock itch or athletes foot.
posted by fifilaru at 1:04 AM on October 21, 2009

Lysine capsules for ingestion and Kiehl's #1 (non-tinted) lip balm applied to the lips works for me.
posted by Lynsey at 9:25 AM on October 21, 2009

I had this when I was a teenager and it was a yeast infection in my mouth. Nystatin liquid, swished around in the mouth and rubbed into the cracks, cured it in a couple weeks.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:27 PM on October 21, 2009

In the hope that you will look back into this question... I had this problem until I switched to an all-natural toothpaste without Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or whitening or flavor crystals or any of the fancy doohickey additives toothpaste can have today. Also, as mentioned, Lysine seems to help increase overall mouth healing.

If you do this and it does work also consider a SLS-free shampoo for increased scalp happiness.
posted by tinamonster at 10:40 PM on October 25, 2009