Lips That Look like Too Much Botox

Sometimes my kids do this a little bit, I just use Chapstick on it, and it clears up pretty quickly. :) D. R.

My younger brother used to have the nervous habit of licking his lips constantly. . . he developed a rash like ring around his whole mouth. It looked like he was wearing dark red lip liner! He didn't stop the habit for years, not until he was ready to grow out of it. My Mom used to constantly tell him to stop, but eventually learned it was useless to try to force him out of the habit. She gave him a lot of medicated lip balms and salves, which helped with his discomfort. But besides that, she learned to just waited for this habit to go away, which eventually it did . . . Perhaps your daughter too will soon grow out of the habit. Hope all turns out well!

My 14 yr old has this problem associated with braces. The dermatologist told us to use Aquaphor. We bought the small tub and filled little lip gloss containers that we bought at JoAnn Fabrics. That way she has a bunch of these around the house and in her purse. Some chapsticks have almond extract in them which can cause an allergy. Try the Aquaphor!

HI H.,
I have a question. If it helps her think why would you want to stop it?
Blessings,
S.

A Pediatrician I know said to slap on a lot of non-stinging lip salve while the child is SLEEPING. This helps some of the healing/moisturization STAY put, when it can do the most good.

My daughter is 5 and does this too, it drives me crazy, but chapstick can make matters worse. such things actually cause your skin or lips to stop making the moisture that they make naturally and it makes flare ups easier and more frequent. i still use medicated chap stick when it gets really bad but i try to let it heal up on it's own whenever i can.

My 4 year old licks his lips constantly. I wrote in about it and got sooooo much feed back and it was great. I think Aveeno lip treatment works best for him but it may be a good idea to get it checked out by your Dr.
Good Luck!!
J. C.

I have seen people who did that...and the ring becomes permanent. I don't know what you can do to keep her from doing it but try something.

I agree that you should try putting something on her lips that doesn't taste good. Make sure it doesn't have any type of mineral oil or petroleum - you have to be careful because a lot of companies use different names. If you want more info let me know and I can send you a list of names to look out for. Hopefully it will be something that she will be more aware of and out grow it.

What age group do your stories cater to?

Hi H.,
My daughter who is now 19 used to do the same thing. She would do it for so long that she would develop infintigo on her lips. It would usually get worse in the winter as most lips get chapped at this time. The only thing I could do was keep on her about licking her lips or sucking in them. You could always put something that taste bad on her lips and that might prevent her from sucking in them ,but if she is like my daughter she will just wipe it off. My daughters lips did not scar and she turned out really pretty so don't worry and tell her dad that he really needs to stay on her about it if he really cares for her he will.Good luck and don't worry so much.

H., I did the exact same thing when I was younger. Really there's nothing you can do. It's a habit that she'll have to break herself, and I'm sure she will. I don't remember when or why I stopped, but I did. Chapstick did help, the medicated kind. I kept it on me all the time and it helped, but didn't stop it. I just had to grow out of it. Sorry I couldn't be more help!

Have you tried Carmex or a medicated chapstick? That may work better than the plain chapstick. I've also heard wonderful things about Burt's Bees products.

Congratulations on your book!

My oldest daughter's lips get a red ring around them every so often. It's like the skin gets really chapped and are quite sore. The best thing that I've found to use for her is Carmex. It's a small white container with a yellow lid. It says it's $1.19 on the lid. We have her put it on in the morning before school, after school and before bed when her lips "flare up." While she's at school, she keeps several tubes of chapstick in her backpack that she uses to keep her lips and the redness around them moist. When the redness appears, it usually takes about 3-4 days of this routine to get it under control.

My nephew did this. My sister was very worried but the red did not stay or scar. Just a thought, have you tried replacing the sucking on her lip with something else? Or, maybe putting something that doesn't taste very good? I get very chapped lips in the winter (I know, not exactly the same thing) but the best thing I have found is a Hemp hand protector from the body shop at home. It doesn't taste the best, but it is all natural (edible) and it works wonders. It helps burns not blister and things like that. It might work both ways. You can look at the product at www.thebodyshopathome.com/web/aoaks. If you would like I could send you a sample to try.
Good luck

My 6 year old does this too. We use aquaphor several times a day. Good luck!

My daughter, now 11, used to do that as well. The best thing to clear it up quickly for us was Bigelow's Rose Salve. They used to carry it at Bath and Body Works, but stopped recently, but I've seen it online at other mail order places. It's really amazing how quickly it works; I was disappointed that B&BW stopped having it in the shop.