Mouth and Lip Eczema: How to Alleviate It?

Many patients with eczema are affected by eczema around the mouth, also known as cheilitis. This skin disorder can impact the quality of life of those it affects by influencing their diet or self-confidence. There are two types of eczema that occur on the lips.

• Atopic Cheilitis: This type of eczema typically occurs in early childhood, often in individuals with a specific genetic predisposition. It progresses in flare-ups interspersed with remissions of varying lengths. It is a chronic disease caused by a defect in the skin barrier, which can be attributed to a lack of lipids and cell adhesion molecules, as well as an inappropriate response from the immune system. Individuals suffering from atopic cheilitis often secrete large amounts of immunoglobulin E, antibodies, in response to environmental antigens (also known as allergens).

• Contact Cheilitis: this type of eczema has an allergic origin and is not related to genetics. Individuals with contact cheilitis around the mouth react to an allergen often found in a lip balm or lipstick. Some people are also sensitive to dental materials or toothpastes.

For these two types oflip eczema, the symptoms are the same: dryness, redness, flaking, and cracking of the skin around the mouth, the vermilion border, which delineates the pink part of the lips and the skin, and the vermilion, corresponding to the pink part of the lips. These areas are very sensitive and healing is often difficult and painful. Several factors complicate this healing, which can be of chemical nature (cosmetic products, saliva...), physical (repeated rubbing, tearing of scales...) or climatic (wind, cold).