Were you late for your meeting because you spent 15 precious minutes looking for your lip balm? Do you pull over at stores on your way to work and buy a chapstick if you left yours at home? If the answer to this lip balm addiction quiz is yes, then you are caught in the trap. The addiction may not cause you to visit the doctor. So it might not register as something to worry about. However, it is emerging as a reality as more and more individuals find their homes and office stacked with these sticks.
What is Lip Balm Addiction?
Just as they affect our skin and hair, the wind, the sun and the cold climate, all of these take a toll on our lips. It is here that lip balms come as great help as they keep our lips moist and prevent them from getting chapped. However, for some it is more than a lip moisturizing product as they find that these colorful, flavored sticks have become an important part of their lives. But what is it that makes these products cross the border of being products to be used only to cure chapped lips and become a habit? Some say that is the ingredients themselves. Menthol is good for cold sores. But it creates a tingling sensation that a lip balm addicts develop a liking for. Camphor, another ingredient of lip balm, along with menthol, is believed to interfere with the natural healing process of the lip. This hampers the lips' natural ability to maintain moisture. Some say it is the plain and simple fruity taste that transforms this seemingly harmless product into an addiction.
How to Stop It?
Stop Licking Your Lips
Some of us are in the habit of licking our lips too often. Though licking lips makes them moist, over-licking them is definitely a problem. Even before the lip balm can have its moisturizing effect licking one's lips removes it from the lip. The result is that one's lips are chapped and you feel the need to apply lip balm frequently.
Switch Brands
Check the ingredients of your lip balm. Avoid those that use camphor, menthol and alcohol. Although camphor and menthol are useful in treating cold sores, one could easily do without them for treating chapped lips. Camphor and menthol also dry out lips. This promotes the need for frequent application of lip balm. Switch to something that has more natural ingredients like cocoa butter, various oils, Shea butter, beeswax etc.
Keep Yourself Hydrated
Lack of moisture in your body is what makes you reach for that stick of lip balm. To fight the addiction from its root, drink plenty of water daily. One could also consider installing a dehumidifier at home and/or office. As it maintains the moisture levels in the environment, it also prevents the lips from becoming dry.
Alternatives
Lip balms are not the only option to keep those lips hydrated. Petroleum jelly, Vitamin E ointment or Aloe vera extract could also work fine. Well, a friend of mine found an amusing solution. A self confessed lip balm addict, she switched to a long-lasting lip gloss with moisturizing effect. And according to her it worked. She said that the feeling of something heavy on her lips kept her from licking them repeatedly and finally she overcame the habit of applying lip balm or even the lip gloss! How about some homemade lip gloss of your own?
Stop Cold Turkey
Sounds like the easiest and the most difficult advice? Yes it is. But it is also the most effective answer to your question of how to break the addiction to lip balm. One could consider a gradual withdrawal as well, like switching to some more aqueous based products for the lips or simply reduce the frequency of that stick touching your lips.
For most people, lip balms provide a welcome respite from the drying winds of the winters, whereas, for some it becomes a worrying habit. Lip balm addiction, although not as serious as alcohol abuse or drug addiction is a reality. And like all of us know, addictions have never done anyone any good.
