What causes actinic cheilitis?
Genetic damage to skin cells by ultraviolet light (UV) rays causes actinic cheilitis. Your lips are more vulnerable to the sun’s rays than other areas of skin. The skin on your lips is thinner and contains less pigment to protect cells from the sun’s damaging rays.
Repeated, long-term exposure of your lips to solar ultraviolet radiation causes actinic cheilitis.
See Also
Woke Up with Swollen Lip: Causes and TreatmentSwollen Lips: 10 Common Causes & What to DoSwollen Lip in the Morning: Causes and TreatmentsDermNet® - Allergic contact cheilitisAdvertisem*nt
What are the symptoms of actinic cheilitis?
With actinic cheilitis, your skin on one or both lips may look or feel:
- Chapped all the time.
- Cracked.
- Crusty.
- Discolored (such as white or yellow patches, or lips that are redder than normal).
- Dry.
- Folded in spots.
- Like sandpaper.
- Scaly.
- Swollen.
- Thin or fragile.
Also, the vermilion border (the reddish-colored line that separates the lips from other skin) may blur. Women sometimes describe difficulty applying lipstick because the lip line is less defined.
Actinic cheilitis is usually painless, but you might experience:
- Burning.
- Numbness.
- Pain.
- Soreness.
- Tenderness.
