Common causes for rash around the mouth include irritation like constantly licking your lips, an allergic reaction, and side effect of medication, or an infection or STD. Read below for more related symptoms and treatment options.
Lip licker's dermatitis is a type of skin inflammation around the lips due to damage by saliva from repetitive lip licking and is classified as a subtype of irritant contact cheilitis. The resulting scaling, redness, chapping, and crusting makes a well-defined ring around the lips.
How Do You Get Rid Of Lip Licker Dermatitis? Some of the ways to get rid of lip licker's dermatitis is to apply a lip balm at regular intervals throughout the day, apply an emollient like petroleum jelly, coconut oil or cocoa butter, and stop the usage of corticosteroids.
The vermilion border (sometimes spelled vermillion border), also called margin or zone, is the normally sharp demarcation between the lip and the adjacent normal skin. It represents the change in the epidermis from highly keratinized external skin to less keratinized internal skin.
According to TCM, these external pieces of your body are linked to different organs. Your lips, for example, are thought to be connected to your Spleen.
Constant licking to relieve discomfort can cause lip licker's dermatitis, a red rash that forms around the mouth. The saliva from habitual lip licking irritates the skin – the constant cycle causes chapped lips to extend over the lip borders and create that telltale red ring.
If you have a rash around your mouth, you may have perioral dermatitis. This rash often looks like small, red, acne-like breakouts in people with light-colored skin and skin-colored breakouts in people who have skin of color.
An allergic reaction can cause marks to appear on or around the lips. According to DermNet, the medical term for this type of reaction is allergic contact cheilitis. One or both lips may be red, dry, or scaly, and they may crack.
Hyperpigmentation of the extremities—especially over the dorsum of the hands and feet, with accentuation over the interphalangeal joints and terminal phalanges—associated with pigmentation of oral mucosa is characteristic of vitamin B12 deficiency.
Perioral dermatitis is a rash that develops around the mouth and tends to be bumpy or scaly. These bumps generally do not affect the skin right next to the mouth but appear a short distance away from the lips. They may also form a ring around the mouth. Sometimes the rash can appear around the nose or eyes.
The symptoms of eczematous cheilitis typically manifest as redness, swelling, and flaking of the lips. Itching is common and may be accompanied by a burning sensation. In severe cases, painful cracks or fissures can develop on the lips.
What does an infected lip piercing look like? An infected lip piercing may be swollen and red or dark in color. In addition, you may notice it leaking pus or blood.
Cracked or peeling lips: Heartache, worry, dryness in the body, feeling cold. Discoloration or faded colour in the lips: Lack of proper circulation throughout the body. Hot/burning/red lips: Inflammation or too much heat within the body due to overly spicy foods, too much sugar, alcohol or caffeine.
What does it look like? Solar cheilitis predominantly affects the lower lip because it tends to be more prominent. The homogenous pink color of the healthy lip (Figure A) is replaced with non-homogenous white/gray, pink, red, or brown areas and the normally sharp vermillion/skin border becomes less distinct (Figure B).
The infraorbital branch of the maxillary division of the trigeminal nerve (cranial nerve V2) supplies the upper lip. The mental nerve derived from the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve (cranial nerve V3) allows for sensation from the lower lip.
Bluish-red lips may mean you have Cold Syndrome. This is when you feel cold easily, especially in your extremities. Avoid cold food and drinks. Pale lips indicate a Blood Deficiency, which occurs when you have a pale complexion and feel tired easily.
A lip piercing is more prone to infections, because it regularly comes in contact with things like food and drinks, makeup, and bacteria from your mouth. If you notice discharge, swelling or redness that doesn't go down, tenderness, burning, itching, or intense pain, your piercing is most likely infected.
Treatment / Management
Conservative treatment of minor local infections includes warm compress and over-the-counter or prescription topical antibiotics such as bacitracin or mupirocin. Oral antibiotics such as cephalexin or clindamycin provide coverage for streptococcus and staphylococcus.
While facial piercings may not close up because of the thick facial membranes, lip piercings will close up because the lips have a thinner membrane (two or three layers). 💡 Take Note: Lip piercings don't leave permanent holes. Instead, the hole closes up and becomes a likely permanent scar.
Use an oatmeal scrub.
Prepare a scrub with 1 tablespoon of oatmeal, 1 teaspoon of tomato juice, and 1 teaspoon of yogurt. Mix the ingredients well. Rub the scrub gently onto the skin for 3-5 minutes. Wash it off after 15 minutes.
From oral contraceptives to fluoride in toothpaste; a steroidal cream or ointment used on the face, cosmetics and cleansers if applied to the area with the rash, and stress can make it worse. Perioral Dermatitis is a condition often triggered by stress or the use of topical steroids.