Yellow crust on lips

[SCF506]

For the last two days I have woken up with a yellow, crumbly crust covering my lips. I have been applying Vaseline liberally, and while that helps keeps my lips nice and moist, I still have this crust developing and I often feel as though my lips are weeping or sweating.

Is this an infection? If it is, will I need a prescription for an antibiotic cream or is there one I can get OTC? It started off as regular chapped lips, but I think the chap is largely gone now thanks to the Vaseline. I sometimes feel like they are burning a little too.

My lips itch slightly around the outside too. It looks as though there may be some very small raised bumps on my lips, with no heads or anything, like it's a rash - but I'm not sure. It certainly doesn't look like cold sores. I and my  boyfriend were tested for all STD's recently and came up clear, but I may go to a clinic to get herpes ruled out just to ease my mind. I would have seen a doc about this already but I am overseas right now so it's tricky.

Stats:
Age - 19
Non-smoker
History of eczema, but not on or around the face, and not seen for years
I don't lick my lips, I use Chap Stick quite a lot because I do get chapped lips easily
Iron deficiency runs in family, but is usually not a problem for me because I include lots of iron and Vit-C in my diet
As far as I know, I'm perfectly healthy otherwise and haven't been ill in months.

[jeancos]

Hi - I think what you are dealing with is exfoliative chelitis - my son has it - and there is no cure that we have found - although many people are trying to find a cure on their own - you can go to ************ and search exfoliative chelitis - there is a whole community of people struggling with the same problem

[tlk2010]

It is Impetigo. i have been having this problem, reoccurring for about 2 years now. And this time I was bound to figure it out. So I searched high and low and finally found this. It matches all of my symptoms, so I have self-diagnosed myself with it.
Impetigo is a bacterial infection of the skin that can occur just about anywhere, but is most common around the mouth.
It occurs when the skin gets raw and irritated from excessively licking lips causing extremely chapped lips.
Google symptoms and treatments.
I hope that helps.

[DoesItMatter]

WARNING! Although I'm constantly on the web, I hardly ever make posts on random sites I browse and I usually just let nature take its course. Being especially bored at the moment and feeling like doing a good deed, I wanted to add some advice (which most certainly will be ignored). FLUOCINONIDE is a medium to extremely potent corticosteroid... Its a steroid hormone. It has no antibacterial properties. You may inadvertently spread your impetigo during application; if you indeed have impetigo and somehow convince your doctor to prescribe a topical steroid. If you are prescribed fluocinonide for a different skin issue, you are NOT to apply liberally throughout the day as a previous poster stated. It is most usually used once or twice a day, applying a very thin film to the affected area. At least take a moment to research what I'm saying before moving heaven and earth to get your hands on this prescription simply because you're panicking over some crusty lips. Not only will you spread the infection, but you will risk combining it with side-effects that will only make it more unsightly. Now that's off my chest you may proceed with your crusty lipped day.

[123Impetigo]

It is Impetigo and the Neosporin will work but Polysporin might not have stong enough anti bacterial ingredient in it.
the hyrdocortisone cream by itself doesnt help it only brings the redness down for awhile

Good Luck
PS if the sores on the skin not the lips hurt.. you probably have Herpes
Impetigo is mostly just itchy

[RuthieHamlin]

I have the same problem and me being a model, this creates a serious problem. I have researched it and been to several doctors, and to be quite honest, none of them have any idea what it is or even what causes it. It seems to be different for everyone though... I am allergic to fruits and anything fresh. These set it off for me. Also cats and fresh cut grass do not help. Burt's Bees Chapstick is the only thing I can use that doesn't set it back off. But be careful. After many failed experiments, THICK chopsticks, even waxy Burt's bees ones keep the problem going. The mango Burt's bees and the silver capped nourishing ones are the ones that don't make it worse. I hope this helps.

[RuthieHamlin]

I have the same problem and me being a model, this creates a serious problem. I have researched it and been to several doctors, and to be quite honest, none of them have any idea what it is or even what causes it. It seems to be different for everyone though... I am allergic to fruits and anything fresh. These set it off for me. Also cats and fresh cut grass do not help. Burt's Bees Chapstick is the only thing I can use that doesn't set it back off. But be careful. After many failed experiments, THICK chopsticks, even waxy Burt's bees ones keep the problem going. The mango Burt's bees and the silver capped nourishing ones are the ones that don't make it worse. I hope this helps.

[AsmoJones]

Yep you sound like you have the same thing as me. Some people here sound like they have impetigo. I have what is called pollen fruit syndrome, my lips swell up from an allergic reaction and then the damned thing gets infected!