0:02

Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works.

0:06

Hey, brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Voke Obama, and today's

0:08

episode is another classic from our former host,

0:10

Christian Sagar. He's talking about a

0:12

topic that is increasingly relevant to my life

0:14

as winter sets in why do

0:16

lips get chapped? Hey,

0:23

I'm Christian Sagar, and this is brain Stuff.

0:25

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you've

0:27

probably had chapped lips at some

0:29

point. Well, here's what's happening. Your

0:32

lips are pretty delicate things. And the one

0:34

at the top that's your labium supriyaus

0:36

oriris, and the one on the bottom is your

0:38

labi um infurious oris.

0:41

Collectively, they form an enormously

0:43

sensitive, incredibly flexible part

0:45

of your body, and it's tough to picture

0:47

life without them. However, they

0:49

also have some vulnerabilities. For instance,

0:52

the skin of your lips is different from the rest

0:54

of your face. Let's take a closer look.

0:56

The outer layer is called the epidermist,

0:59

and it has a per act of covering called the stratum

1:01

corneum. Underneath your epidermis

1:04

is another layer of skin, the dermist.

1:06

Like the rest of your skin, your lips have all

1:08

three of these layers. The difference is

1:11

that the stratum corneum on your lips

1:13

is way thinner than it is anywhere else on

1:15

your body. In fact, it's part

1:17

of the reason people's lips have that alluring

1:19

red or pink pigment. It

1:21

comes from underlying blood vessels,

1:24

red colored blood filled capillaries

1:26

close to the thin skin on your lips.

1:29

Next, your lips also don't have the oil

1:31

and sweat glands that protect other parts

1:33

of your body. They're only source

1:35

of moisture is your saliva, and that's

1:37

why they can easily become dry and

1:40

chapped, and that's usually the culprit

1:42

here hydration. We often

1:44

experience chapped lips and cold weather,

1:46

not because our lips are allergic to winter or

1:48

anything, but instead because the outside

1:51

air tends to be dryer, and this also

1:53

dries out the lips, and this drying

1:55

out is the leading cause of chapped lips,

1:58

also known as common ki lightness.

2:00

Luckily, there are some pretty simple ways

2:02

to prevent this. First, and no matter

2:05

what the cause of your chapped lips might be, stop

2:08

licking them. I know, I know, it can be

2:10

a difficult habit to break, but licking

2:12

your lips can contribute significantly

2:14

to dry cracked skin. The

2:16

saliva evaporates quickly, taking

2:18

with it any moisture that was already on your

2:21

lips and leaving them even drier,

2:23

especially in winter air. And

2:25

speaking of amazing segues, let's

2:28

tackle weather related chapping. If

2:30

you have very dry air in your house, consider

2:32

investing in a humidifier. If you're

2:34

outside, then protect your lips with a product

2:37

that contains beeswax or petrolatum,

2:39

which will help maintain your lips hydration.

2:42

If you plan to be out in the sun for a while,

2:44

help prevent dryness by using a sunscreen

2:46

on your lips as well. A lip bomb

2:48

with SPF in it could help address both

2:51

of these issues at once. And as

2:53

always, drinking plenty of fluids

2:55

is a great move for your entire body,

2:57

not just your lips. And that's

2:59

it, well, well almost. We didn't

3:02

talk about the multiple other causes of chapped

3:04

lips or lip bomb addiction, or whether some

3:06

of the ingredients and those things actually

3:08

caused chapped lips, which is an interesting

3:11

little conspiracy theory. Today's

3:16

episode is written by Ben Bollen and produced by

3:18

Tyler Playing to hear more about fringe

3:20

theories, but probably not too many involving

3:22

chapstick. Tune into Ben's show Stuff

3:24

they Don't Want You to Know, available wherever you get

3:27

your podcasts, and of course, for

3:29

more on this and lots of other protective topics,

3:31

visit our home planet pas Stuffworks dot

3:33

com