Did you know that its possible to get a sunburn on your lips? A few years ago, I had been outside all day, every day, for almost an entire summer. I was smart enough to wear sunscreen, but unfortunately it never crossed my mind to protect my lips.

Over the course of several days, my lips had become increasingly dried and cracked, and I was in the habit of coating them with a thick layer of cheap, cherry flavored lip balm. The lip balm basically did nothing, and eventually the outer layer of lip skin began to get hard and thick like a scab. An especially hot day came around, and my lips got increasingly uncomfortable and warm throughout the day. When I got home, I checked them out in the mirror.

My lips had become unusually dark in the middle, and the edges were light-colored, cracked, and extremely dried out. The scabbed areas had started to pull away around the edges of my lips, and I could tell that there was a fresh layer of lip skin underneath the scabs. I’ve always been the scab-picking type, so I ended up getting curious, and I slowly started to pull the sunburned pieces of skin off. Surprisingly, the scabs came off painlessly, and my lips felt a lot better after they were gone. The process did leave them feeling raw though, so I ran over to the grocery store to find something soothing to put on them. The store ended up having medicated lip ointment with an SPF rating of 20. After using it for a couple of days, my lips felt normal again, and I’ve never had another problem with sunburned lips.

Aren’t you glad you read that?

Photo Credit: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
No Known Copyright Restrictions
Photo altered by Brainsauce.info