In the winter, the whole person seems to want to dehydrate the fish, almost to death. Adults are dry to the point of discomfort, let alone children. When I meet a child who does not like to drink water, the dry skin on the lips is layer after layer. Many parents generally feel that if their children have dry skin on their mouths, they drink less water. In fact, not all of the dry skin on the mouth is due to lack of water. If the child's lips are licking and drying, and even cracks appear, mothers should be especially careful, it may be chronic cheilitis to find the door!
What is chronic cheilitis?
The so-called chronic cheilitis can also be called non-specific cheilitis. It is a chronic, nonspecific, inflammatory lesion of the lip.
How is chronic cheilitis caused?
Chronic cheilitis is actually related to the baby's frequent lip licking. Your baby's saliva contains various digestive enzymes and saliva proteins. When the baby licks his lips, he actually accelerates the loss of moisture from the lips and the corners of the mouth. In addition, the protein in the saliva remains on the lips. Over time, the protein forms a scab on the surface of the mouth. As a result, your baby's lips may show cracks and bleeding. In severe cases, the corners of the mouth may also ulcerate, and chronic cheilitis slowly develops.
At first glance, these symptoms seem to be no different from ordinary lack of water. In fact, it is not as simple as you think. What is the difference between dry lips, dehydration and chronic cheilitis? It can be roughly judged from the symptoms.
When the normal lips are dry and dehydrated, the baby's lips will have some hard skin and obvious lip lines. In this case, the baby is caused by dryness and lack of water. Therefore, only need to replenish water in time, or properly humidify the indoor air, can effectively help children alleviate this symptom.
If the baby is chronic cheilitis, the baby's mouth will have a lot of dry skin, and the symptoms of the lower lip are obviously more serious than the upper lip. At the same time, the baby will also lick his lips unconsciously. Small cracks also appear in the mouth, and there are white or yellowish dead skins at the corners of the mouth. In this case, it is possible that the baby has chronic cheilitis.
What should parents do when a baby develops chronic cheilitis?
1. Wet compress with light brine
Mothers can first observe if the baby's chronic cheilitis situation is not particularly serious, just when the lips are dry but not cracked. You can choose to configure some light salt water yourself and wet it on your child's mouth with a small makeup remover cotton. At intervals of 3-5 minutes, drop a few drops of light brine and continue to do so for 20-30 minutes. Finally, give your baby some lip balm, or Vaseline, to lock in the moisture in your baby's lips.
2. Wet compresses with warm water and use antibiotics
If the symptoms of chronic cheilitis in children are more serious, not only dry skin, but also cracks. Mothers can choose to apply some antibiotics directly to the baby with a wet compress with warm water, clean the dead skin of the baby's lips, and then apply some antibiotics to the baby. This can quickly relieve your child's chronic cheilitis, but it is not suitable for long-term use.
3. Apply medicine
If the baby's symptoms are so severe that there is erosion, it is recommended that parents take the child to the hospital in time. As directed by your doctor, wet medications, antibiotics, or even hormone therapy are used.
Although chronic cheilitis does not cause large-scale serious damage to the baby, it is still harmful to the baby's health. Mothers should not think that it is a small matter, or pay more attention.