Lip Eczema Treatment: My Experiences with Topical Corticosteroids

Topical corticosteroids are effective in the treatment of eczema, especially lip eczema. I have tried a few of them, and I'd like to share some of my experiences.

Corticosteroids that I've Tried

Elica by Bayer

The first corticosteroid I used was Elica (mometasone furoate). It was prescribed to me by our school physician. I have to say it was very effective. It relieved me of discomfort in a matter of half hour or so.

Oftentimes, my eczema flareup would greatly improve after several days of treatment. She reminded me not to use it for more than 2 weeks. I used it on other areas of my body where I would get eczema flareups, and in 2 days or so, I would see improvement.

Dermatologist Prescribed Hydrocortisone Creams

I've also tried unlabeled hydrocortisone creams prescribed by dermatologists. These are creams that dermatologists carry themselves or they put a sticker on the container with their name on it. Over the three times that I consulted with a dermatologist, I experienced them offering me a hydrocortisone cream they carry. And all these times I bought them.

I didn't like the consistency of these creams. I also didn't find them as fast acting as Elica, so I just went back to using Elica.

Reminder

Please don't take this as a medical advice. You might be allergic to some of the contents of Elica or any hydrocortisone cream. Consult with a trusted doctor or dermatologist first before applying any topical corticosteroid.

I do have to say I have a level of mistrust on Philippine dermatologists, especially since in my experience, I still have yet to meet a dermatologist that really cares. The ones I've met were all just concerned about pushing their products and customers buying the products. They didn't discuss with me options and long-term side effects, especially not in detail.

Anyway, I hope you find this helpful. Let me know your thoughts or your experiences. That just might help other eczema sufferers out there.

Lip Balm with Peppermint or Menthol: Lip Eczema Big No

Disclaimer: This is solely based on my experience.

A friend gave me Burt's Bees Wax Lip Balm with Peppermint and Soothing Lip Balm with Eucalyptus and Menthol when he visited me once. He knows about my eczema and that the only lip balm that works for me is one made with bees wax. However he couldn't remember if a lip balm with menthol was good for me or not.

I first tried the one with peppermint as I was afraid of using the one with menthol. Initially, the balm gave me a cooling and a bit of pain relief. However, my lips were irritated after a few days of using it. It was not as bad as using a lip balm with menthol, but I decided it was not good for me.

After a few weeks, I tried Burt's Bees with Eucalyptus and Menthol.I knew that menthol lip balm had an adverse effect on me. However, I was curious if it would affect me in the same way. I wanted to see if the brand and how the lip balm was formulated could be the cause. After using the BB balm, I noticed my lips were irritated and red the next day although not as badly as the one sold under Watson's brand. My lips were irritated by they did not swell nor had watery stuff oozing out of the surface of my lips.

My conclusion: avoid using lip balms with peppermint, or menthol whatever the brand is. I am not sure about eucalyptus as I have not used a lip balm that is infused with eucalyptus essence alone.

Lip Eczema and Lip Balms

It's not easy having lip eczema - endless lip peeling, highly sensitive lips. Not fun. And the worst thing is, eczema has no cure. Your lips may get better and normalize for a certain period of time, then you will have flare ups every now and then which can range from months to years especially during seasonal transitions.

The key thing about lip eczema treatment and management is to avoid irritants and to ALWAYS keep your lips moisturized using a lip balm - never lick your lips to moisturize it as this actually does the opposite.

Here is a list of several lip balms as remedies that I have tried and my experiences with them. Please note that lip balms may react differently to different people. I am just sharing my experiences with them.

Discalimer: this is not a medical advice. It's best to consult with a dermatologist.

1. Carmex (gel form)  - This is the first one that I have tried. It gives a cool numbing sensation. I found this especially good during my worst flare ups. Carmex felt like a sort of anesthetic to pain due to irritation. Also, it gave relief when my lips were extremely itchy. However, after a while, I felt like it wasn't effective to me anymore. So I switched it with another lip balm
• Get Carmex on Amazon.com
2. Nivea Fruity Lip Balm (Strawberry) - This used to be my staple lip balm before I had lip eczema. It actually did a good job of moisturizing my lips before. However, it didn't give me the kind of treatment that I needed. I guess this okay for ordinary moisturization needs.
3. Nivea Lip Therapy- Like most lip balms, this is petroleum jelly based. Since it said lip therapy, I tried it. However, I saw very minimal improvement in my lips' condition using this lip balm.
4. Human Nature Natural Lip Balm - This was the best lip balm that I have ever used. I still am using this until now. After trying the other lip balms, I thought okay, I'll look for a lip balm with beeswax as advised by my then-bf. One day, my sis made me try her lip balm. I looked at the website of Human Nature and read that their lip balm is made of beeswax instead of petrolatum. Luckily, I realized that their shop is just a walking distance away from work. My lips have improved greatly. It has rather normalized for as long as I regularly apply the lip balm.
5. Watsons menthol lip balm - I bought this lip balm at the mall because I ran out of lip balm and the Human Nature shop was already closed when I dropped by after work. The first time I used it, my lips felt weird. On my second application at home a few hours later, I felt like my lips were becoming swollen, saw some water-like ooze coming out of my lips - like my lips were sweating. After a while, my lips looked really swollen. Then the next day, they were very itchy. It was a bad idea. I then learned in an article that menthol/mint lip balms are actually irritating for people with lip eczema. So, please avoid menthol lip balms if you have lip eczema.

If you have lip eczema like I do, maybe you should give any beeswax based lip balm a try. And I suggest that you use Human Nature's lip balm because it's the only one that has worked perfectly for me.