Mixed feelings invade the heart when the first symptoms of Angular Cheilitis appear. There is shame at the way the skin around the lips looks and there is a sense of fear at the way this condition can develop over time. Then, there is the pain that often accompanies this condition. With so many feelings running through their souls, many people simply panic and start scratching at their cracked skin, hoping that this will speed up the healing process. However, this is one of the worst things you can do in your attempt to get rid of angular cheilitis. Here’s why:
Angular cheilitis involves cracking of the skin, inflammation, redness, and in the most severe cases, infection and pus. In order for the skin to begin to heal, it will need to begin to regenerate the cells that have been damaged. Thus, more often, in cases prior to healing, the skin will have a scaly appearance. This means that the skin is trying to redo the affected areas. If you start to pinch that skin and take it from there, you will further enlarge the lesions and prevent the skin from healing effectively. In other words, instead of helping the skin to heal, as you might think, it only makes the process longer and more difficult.
On top of that, the surface of the hand accumulates millions of bacteria every hour. Therefore, placing your hands on the affected area will further increase the risk of infection. Even though you just got rid of all that nasty pus, you can still cause another infection just by touching the sores and you don’t want this to happen right? Also, touching your skin can lead to scarring in the affected area, so this should be another reason why you should keep your hands away from the area affected by angular cheilitis.
The temptation to try to ‘help’ your skin heal faster by picking at the sores can be great. However, you should refrain from such actions if you do not want to prolong the time it will take for your skin to heal and aggravate the situation.
