Recurring redness around lips

[Rohai]

About 2 months ago, I went to visit my physician regarding a problem I had with a ring of redness around my lips - more prominent on my bottom lip - it was a lighter, tender pink shade and kind of looked like I had been drinking lots of red kool-aid. I also had constant dry, cracked and bleeding lips, and tried everything from drinking plenty of water and making sure I wasn't licking them. I didn't have any other visual symptoms, but I did have a combination of a burning/numbness feeling on my lips.

The doctors did some bloodwork to check my vitamin levels which all came back fine and instructed me to try an OTC cream like Abreva, as they thought it might be a cold sore (which I never had in the past either). Two weeks later, I scheduled a follow up appointment, as the redness and severe chapping was still there.

The second time, they prescribed an Acylovir tablet and Zovirax cream for oral herpes. All this seemed to do was irritate my entire mouth. My lips swelled up and felt like they were shot up with novicaine. After the 10 day period of using the medication, I noticed the chapness went away, but the bright red ring around my lips is still there. Some days it's more prominent than others and my lips tend to dry out now and then, but I'm trying to avoid putting any sort of ointment/chapstick on them in the event that something coming in contact with the lips is irritating them further.

I've included a recent photo (not the best quality) that shows my bottom lip and my lip line is no longer definitive. I have set up an appointment with a dermatologist a few weeks from now, but I'm still trying to get some clarity on what might be causing this. I've had people suggest everything from a fungal/bacterial infection, cold sores/oral herpes, allergies, vitamin deficiencies, etc. Nothing in my daily activities has really changed for the past several years, so I'm concerned about the sudden onset, and how this problem has persisted for almost 2 months now.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

[leap2016a]

I have the same issue. It started in March 2015. Went to 3 different dermatologists. Given 3 different ointments that are steroid/ anti-inflammatory.  Also tried anti fungal prior to going to the dr. It went away when the weather got warmer. It came back again late summer and left in the fall. It's back again now and I have taken the b12 for two days now and there is some relief.... Coincidence??? Maybe this is really the cure. I hope! This has been driving me crazy and I see I'm not the only one.

[pamilla]

I have had this for 8 months, 4 months non stop. My Primary Doc told me no makeup or lip sticks. She gave me a an ointment Triamcinolone Acetonide cream.  Has not done a thing, I finally made appointment with Dermatologist. I have always worn lip sticks, balms, since my 20's (I'm 60 now). I take by injection B12 2000 MCG 1 time a month, also a prescription Vitamin D. I have had a vitamin deficiency for some time. I had a Gastric Bypass in 2003, Dr.'s blame that. I can not take it anymore, it is not easily visible to anyone since I don't let it get out of control like I did when it came the first time than went away, it cracked flacked crusty, gross!

[paintingflowers]

i have this too~ all the advice, opinions. creams, no cream, no sugar in the diet etc etc...
the only thing that ive found that i can not do without is
pure lanolin. what nursing mama's put on their raw nipples.

otherwise, im at a loss at why this keeps happening and hope we will all find and answer soon.

[Slade13]

Also to add on, my lips is look exactly like OP. The lips seem thicker and the lip lines are not defined

[Slade13]

Hey guys,I got this problem a year back when I went to a cold country, swollen lips and all, but upon returning to my country it was cured. However, I recently got this problem for the 2nd time. Living in a tropical country, i went to a cold country for holiday, licked my itchy lips there, came back with swollen lips. Upon visiting a dermatologist and taking Betamethasone 0.025% ointment, the swelling was gone, but its been a month now and I still have this slight extra redness above n below my lips, making my lips seem thicker than usual. My friends commented that it looks like i applied clumsy lipstick. So does extra virgin coconut oil or Vitamin B12 works or will it disappear on its own?

[OtherEye]

Also, what I have and what your original post describes are something different from angular cheilitis.

[OtherEye]

I agree, for me it's definitely a food allergy issue. I have had this issue for a couple of years now, and have found out it's due to a number of food allergies, of which wheat, rice, and other grains cause the worst reactions, but also beans, legumes, and nightshades. I suggest reading the book "Why Isn't My Brain Working?" by Datis Kharrazian. It discusses the effects of these foods on the gut and the likely unseen effects that these allergies have had on your digestive, nervous, and endocrine systems in addition to the outward symptoms of the redness around the lips, especially the lower one. But yeah, definitely try an elimination diet and then start introducing foods back in one at a time and see which ones cause a reaction and which don't. That is literally the only long-term solution, the creams just treat the symptoms. At least, that's been my experience. Hope this helps!