How To Fix Blistered Lips

With all of us frolicking and relaxing by the beach or pool, we can get the occasion where we have been spending a little too much time in the sun even with the heavily focused sun protection. Any type of sunburn will cause inflammation of the skin, but sometimes what we do during the summertime is to be in the habit of neglecting our mouth. When we get sunburnt, we tend to forget our lips and this part of our body is quite delicate. The outer layer of skin is called the Stratum Corneum which contains little melanin, because of this our lips are prone to blistering when getting sunburnt. So here's the question on everyone's lips, how to treat sunburnt lips?

Who gets it:

Anyone who can get a sunburn can get a sunburn blister on their lips. However, the certain group of people that are most susceptible to getting these nasty little things are fair skinned outdoorsy (either work or leisure) people or people who are prone to getting a frequent outbreak of cold sores more than the average person.

How do I know if I have one?

You can go about your day without knowing your skin is in trauma after a sunburn, so with a sunburn blister, it can take up to 24-48 hours for the effects of a sunburn blister to appear. The symptoms that you should be looking out for to see if you have one or not are:

Reddening of the area
Swelling of the area
If the area is tender to the touch
A water type of bubble appears
Cracking or splitting occurs
Bleeding from the split appears
Scabbing from the bleeding will develop

How to prevent this:

Here are some tricks to prevent getting yourself a nasty sunburnt blister on the lip by following these tips:

Avoid going out into direct sunlight between 10am-4pm
Wear a sunscreen or a lip product that provides a thick barrier that blocks out the sun. Products containing ingredients like zinc oxide or titanium oxide
Reapplying our lip balm or zinc throughout the day, especially after eating and drinking.

How To Treat Sunburnt Lips – What not to do:

If you ever have a sunburnt lip with a raw and fresh blister do not do the following:

Do not use any products that contain any kind of petroleum jelly as the ointment traps the heat from the sun inside the blister.
Do not use any lotions or creams that contain any fragrance. Fragrance in these products will irritate the blister even more.
Do not use lotions or creams that contain ingredients called benzocaine or lidocaine (numbing ingredients).
Do not apply an ice cube directly on the blister as this will cause further damage to the tissue as the burn may expose underlying tissue which is already fragile and more likely to be damaged by the exposure of the ice. And because of this, this may disrupt the healing process altogether.
Resist temptation in popping or prodding the blister. Yes, it will give you a little bit of relief but will be inclined to infection.

How to treat it:

People don't realise but soothing the sore and treating the sore are two different things. To soothe the area is to bring calm or temporary relief for the sore. And to treat is to cure or "fix" the sore.

Sunburnt blisters will eventually heal on their own especially the unbroken water blisters. If taken care of well by following these rules your sunburnt blisters on your lips will go away in a week.

How To Treat Sunburnt Lips – To Soothe

Aloe Vera is a great and natural succulent plant that soothes most burns on the skin. The Aloe from the plant once cut acts as a soothing and cooling gel. Although it smells unpleasant and may feel uncomfortable and slimy, alternatively you can use cooling gels that contain Aloe Vera. Either item whether it be the natural plant or manufactured product will do the trick to sooth your sunburnt blister.

Get a washcloth and by dipping it into cold water or ice-cold water and wringing the excess water out will cool down the inflamed area when placed on giving you temporary relief.

How To Treat Sunburnt Lips – To Treat

Sun blisters will heal on their own if you choose not to do anything to them at all just as long as you keep the area dry, cool and free from irritants. However, with some of us who want to hurry the healing process along you can do so by following these below treatments…

Getting a washcloth and dabbing that in cold milk will help treat the burn as the fat and protein content in milk both soothes the sore and promotes healing.

Drinking plenty of water which will cool and relieve the dehydrated skin and speed up the recovery time compared to someone who doesn't drink any water at all.

When not eating or drinking, keep the area cool and free from irritants

Moisturisers or lip balms that contain ingredients with Shea Butter, Castor Seed Oil, Beeswax, Vitamin E, Coconut Oil or Almond Oil will help soothe and heal your blister.

If your blister isn't healing at all with any of the natural remedies, seek medical attention by talking to your Doctor to get prescribed stronger medications or a pharmacist to get over the counter ointments and creams.

Well, that's it, guys, that's my tips on how to treat sunburnt lips. If you have suffered from a painful sunburn lip blister before and have other tips and tricks regarding the healing process, please comment below on some of your remedies and experiences of these and I shall hear from you all in the next blog.