How Can I Fix My Dry Cracked Lips?

Q: Dr. Eppley, My lips (upper and lower) have been drying and cracking for long time now and the vermillion border is damaged . Topical applications dont help  because the whole skin is eroded and turns sore and painful. without topical application it geta scabby and very tight i cant move then.

A:Thank you for your inquiry and sending your pictures. What you are describing is chronically damaged dry vermilion which can clearly be seen in your pictures of which the lower lip appears to be more severely affected than the upper lip. The surgical treatment is to remove the damaged part of the dry vermilion in a lip reduction procedure which is done for symptomatic relief rather than primary esthetic purposes. By so doing you will either improve or completely solved the problem based on how much of the Involved dry Vermilion can be safely removed. This is done at the expense of some reduction in your lip size as well as a fine line scar at the wet – dry lip junction.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon