How to Protect Your Lips from Sunburns

Summer is here, which means it’s time to spend plenty of time in the sunshine. Naturally, you’ll want to bring along sunscreen, but have you thought about whether your lips are protected from the sun as well?

Your lips are some of the thinnest skin on your body, meaning that they’re just as—if not more—likely to burn when exposed to the sun as other parts of you. If you want to know why protecting them is so important, and how you can do that, here’s some information you may find useful.

Why Do I Need to Safeguard My Lips?

As was mentioned previously, your lips aren’t fundamentally different from any of the other skin on your body. They’re just as susceptible to uncomfortable sunburns, if not more so.

If your lips are bombarded by UVB rays from the sun, you could even contract skin cancer. That makes it vitally important that you protect your lips when you spend time outside.

How Do I Protect My Lips From the Sun?

As it turns out, you can protect your lips from the sun the same way you can anything else—with sunscreen. There’s no shortage of different lip balms out there, many of which include SPF protection.

If you want to stop your lips from getting crispy, you should pick up some SPF 30 lip balm and apply it liberally every two hours. According to the American Cancer Society, you can effectively filter out around 97% of harmful UVB rays with this kind of lip balm.

What to Do if your Lips are Sunburned

If you do wind up with your lips crispier than you’d like, there are a few things that you can do to deal with the discomfort.

One method is to dip a washcloth in cold water and softly dab it on your lips. You can also try applying aloe vera, which is both safe to place on your mouth and proven to reduce the burn from sunscreen. Finally, use over-the-counter pain relievers as directed on the bottle, and you’ll be feeling better in no time!

About the Author

Dr. Xinxing Liu spent a lot of her own childhood in a dentist’s chair, so she’s well aware of the massive impact exceptional oral healthcare can have on people’s lives. Now as a dentist herself, she does what she can to offer that to her patients. Dr. Liu received her degree from the Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine, and she received advanced education so that she can offer her patients the latest and greatest in oral medicine.

If you have any questions about protecting your oral health this summer, she can be reached at her website or by phone at (469) 210-7223.