Best Lip Balm for Soothing Windburn and Severely Chapped Lips

Windburn on lips is a common annoyance during frigid, cold winter months. Exposure to harsh, dry winds can lead to red, cracked, swollen, peeling lips that sting and hurt something fierce. This painful chapping and scaling is often aggravated by constantly licking lips in an attempt to moisturize them. Finding the right nourishing balm is key to both treating and preventing windburn while saving your pout.

What Causes Painful Windburn on Lips

Windburn happens when moisture content in the skin barrier of lips drops rapidly due to external factors. Lips end up losing hydration faster than it can be replaced internally. Typical culprits behind lip windburn include:

Cold, Dry Winds

Frigid gusts of sharp winds quickly evaporate moisture from the thin lip skin leading to redness, scaling and cracking. The delicate skin simply cannot withstand the moisture leaching.

Inadequate Hydration

Chugging enough water and fluids is crucial for keeping skin supple, wounds healing faster and reducing irritation. Dehydrated skin is more prone to dryness, winter damage and struggles to hold onto moisture.

Medications

Numerous medicines like antihistamines, diuretics, antidepressants etc have dry mouth as a common side effect. Saliva helps keep lips moist. Reduced saliva production leads to parched lips.

Underlying Health Issues

Medical conditions like anemia, diabetes, Sjogren’s syndrome, thyroid disorders etc can cause dry, flaky skin and lips. Deficiencies in iron, vitamins B12, C, D and zinc also promote lips chapping.

Unpleasant Symptoms of Lip Skin Damage Due to Windburn

Once the moisture retention capacity of the thin lip skin gets disrupted due to wind exposure, it becomes vulnerable to more damage. Cracks allow allergens and bacteria to penetrate deeper. Slow healing winds up with tender, painful lips displaying:

Red, Scaling and Peeling Skin

Humans slough off 30,000 to 40,000 dead skin cells every minute! Lip skin replenishes itself every 5-10 days. But the exfoliation process goes haywire after wind damage. Flaking skin fails to shed evenly leaving behind tender new skin exposed to the elements.

Cracks, Scabs and Bleeding

Severely chapped lips develop deep cracks making eating and talking painful. Continued drying and cracking can lead to wounds, ulcers and bleeding. Licking such lips makes it worse.

Swelling, Inflammation and Irritation

In response to irritation, the lips can swell up causing discomfort. Licking and biting further aggravates the inflammation. Some people also develop blisters on the lips.

Stinging Sensation Similar to Sunburn

Being thinner than regular skin, both lip and eye skin lack extensive blood circulation. So they depend heavily on external moisture to stay healthy. Windburn dries them out swiftly, causing a burnt feeling akin to a sunburn.

Greater Risk of Infection

Cracked skin is vulnerable to allergens and bacteria which can more easily penetrate deeper. Without prompt treatment, the wounds can develop into fever blisters.

6 Vital Tips to Prevent Painful Windburn & Chapped Lips

Protecting lips from moisture loss is pivotal to ward off damage from unrelenting winds. Try these tested tactics:

1. Apply Lip Balm or Salve Before Stepping Out

Be diligent about coating lips with thick, protective formula balms that seal moisture to the delicate lip skin. Waxy, occlusive salves containing oils, butters and waxes prevent moisture evaporation. Shea, cocoa, mango and illipe butters work wonders.

2. Cover Lips with a Scarf or Ski Mask When Outdoors

Any covering over the lips during outdoor activities helps protect them from whipping winds. Depending on weather severity, cover face partially or fully with a muffler, mask or balaclava.

3. Run a Humidifier at Home and Office

Cranking up the moisture content indoors prevents lips and skin from drying out. This lessens damage and promotes faster healing of cracked skin.

4. Drink Plenty of Fluids to Improve Hydration

Well hydrated skin holds onto moisture better and is less prone to wind damage. Humans lose 2-3 liters of water daily via urine, sweat and breathing. Replenish fluids by drinking juices, smoothies, water, herbal teas etc.

5. Gently Scrub off Flaky Skin Once Indoors

Once back inside, lightly scrub peeling skin using a soft wet washcloth to remove scales without hurting new skin underneath. Rinsing after meals also helps. Avoid aggressively biting the flakes or picking at it.

6. Use Lip Balm or Lipstick With SPF Before Sun Exposure

Even in winter, sun rays reflecting off snow can intensely damage vulnerable lip skin already battling dry winds. Ensure your lip products contain SPF 25+ sun protection. Reapply every 2 hours.

Other Handy Hacks

• Massaging vitamin E oil reduces inflammation while boosting healing
• Dab petroleum jelly at night for added moisture surge
• Avoid smoking which irritates the lips
• Steaming face using hot towel imparts moisture too!

Soothing Ingredients To Treat Painful Chap and Heal Faster

Formulas containing certain caring ingredients can help relieve extremely dry, chapped, wind damaged lips. They also lessen discomfort facilitating faster healing.

Natural Butters

Rich in fatty acid emollients, butters like shea, cocoa and mango derived from nuts and seeds offer amazing skin softening. They provide an insulating occlusive layer, stemming hydration loss. Raw organic varieties deliver optimal nutrition for rebuilding supple lips.

Soothing Beeswax

By coating lips with a protective film, beewax seals in moisture and allowing deeper penetration of accompanying oils and butters. It also imparts an appealing sheen.

Fast Absorbing Plant Oils

Non-greasy natural oils derived from olives, coconuts, jojobas, almonds etc deliver essential vitamins plus fatty acids that improve elasticity and texture. They act like reinforcement materials for damaged moisture barriers in lips while catching hydration too.

Healing Honey & Sucrose Esters

Honey and sugar derivatives act as natural humectants trapping and holding onto water. Active Manuka honey also stimulates wound healing with its antimicrobial properties.

Vitamin E, F & A for Cell Turnover

Topical application or oral ingestion of vitamins improve circulation in thin lip skin. Vitamins A, C, E and beta carotene enhance cell regeneration critical for resurfacing cracked skin faster.

Hydrocortisone to Reduce Inflammation

For pain relief from swelling and inflammation, low dose hydrocortisone creams can help calm down irritation, itching and discomfort temporarily while healing gets underway.

Skin Conditioning Essential Oils

Peppermint, lavender and Roman chamomile essential oils impart a soothing cooling sensation while geranium, rose hip and carrot seed oils accelerate cell turnover and regeneration. The aromatic compounds penetrate faster than thicker ingredients.

Review of Ultra Repair Lip Treatment by SkincareRx

True to its name suggesting intense rejuvenation, Ultra Repair Lip Treatment delivers heavy-duty hydration from top notch skin nourishing ingredients. This salve can tackle mild to severely chapped lips making it a handbag staple!

Its star skin repairing component is – 25% Organic Shea Butter – the highest legal percentage. Hand harvested in West Africa, quality shea butter reinforces the moisture barrier while easing inflammation with vitamins A and E. The indulgent, nourishing butter comforts irritated skin relieving dryness.

Active Manuka Honey lends natural humectant properties encouraging hydration while promoting healing of wounded skin with antimicrobial characteristics. This medicinal honey harvested in New Zealand also minimizes scars.

The non-greasy plant oils mix includes emollient rich sweet almond oil to condition skin and maintaing softness alongside apricot kernel and wheat germ oils chockfull of essential fatty acids and vitamin E. Nourishing olive fruit oil with omega 9 softens while boosting suppleness.

Beeswax forms a protective film sealing everything in while imparting an appealing sheen. Unlike petroleum jelly, beeswax also permits skin to breathe.

Vitamin C brightens dull skin while hydrolyzed quinoa protein and sea buckthorn fruit extract offer additional hydrating and collagen boosting qualities to revive dehydrated lip tissue.

Meadowfoam Seed Oil, naturally rich in antioxidants reinforces the lipid barrier further for locking long lasting moisture. Avocado and rosehip seed oils improve skin regeneration.

Despite being generously dense, this premium quality versatile balm gets rapidly absorbed into troubled lips to banish peeling and flakiness. Just a thin layer suffices to treat mild to severely chapped lips aggravated by harsh weather, sun damage etc. Unlike waxy sticks, its salve-like texture penetrates faster without a greasy mess.

Its versatile formula works well overnight and also under lipsticks for maximally protected, nourished lips that withstand any climate. For best results, gently scrub lips with damp washcloth post application to aid the blocked skin to shed faster.

Customers rave it helps their painfully cracked lips heal substantially within 3-5 days of diligent application. Plus it lasts nearly 18 months even with daily use!

[Buy from SkincareRx.com at $15]

More Tips for Improved Lip Health & Appearance

Caring for pout perfection involves adopting both internal and external habits that safeguard lip health while simultaneously healing and beautifying.

Dietary Tips

• Consume a wholesome diet full of colorful fruits and veggies containing vitamins A, C, E plus iron and Omega-3s
• Stay hydrated by drinking 8-10 glasses of fluids like water, juices and herbal teas
• Eat more healthy fats via salmon, walnuts, olive oil, avocados etc.
• Take a vitamin E supplement to speed up skin regeneration
• Boost collagen production with vitamin C foods like citrus fruits

External Care

• Use gentle circular motions when washing your face. No aggressive lip scrubbing!
• Apply SPF lip balm before heading outdoors
• At night, switch to a nourishing formula with shea butter, almond oil and hyaluronic acid
• Once a week, soften dry skin with an overnight mask or scrub
• Avoid smoking which slows down blood flow to thin lip skin

Makeup Savvy Steps

• Exfoliate lips prior to lipstick application using wet washcloth or sugar scrub
• Opt for hydrating formulas like tinted balms and satin mattes over drying liquid lipsticks
• Use lip liners to prevent feathering and blurring out of shape
• Pick warmer mauve or peach shades to perk up tired, dull looking lips

Visit A Doctor

Persistent lip dryness, redness, ulcers or cracks despite self-care may indicate underlying issues needing medical attention:

• Fungal infections
• Pre-cancerous growths
• Contact allergies
• Iron or vitamin deficiency
• Medication side effect
• Salivary gland issues

So seek your doctor’s advice to identify and address the root cause, not just mask symptoms!

Moisturize Daily Against Harsh Elements

Healthy supple lips can take more licking! Extend your balm barrier beyond just winter. After all, moisture loss continues indoors all year long due to heating and cooling systems. Your lip protector must smooth over chapped, cracked skin fast while soothing on contact. That likely means saying sayonara to minty menthol irritants.

When armed with the right balm, you can conquer painful lip chapping triggered by anything – helmet friction, plane cabin air, summer sun at the beach or desert hiking! So stash tubes everywhere –purses, gym bags, car and nightstand to keep kissers soft regardless of external conditions. Your lips will look better and last longer!