Dry mouth and dry lips during pregnancy are very common and almost all the women go through these changes. While it can be very severe and can cause chipped lips and bleeding to some extent while in others it would just be another winter look.
What ever might be the reason or cause and its manifestation dry lips can be very discomforting and can have other effects like difficult to feed etc. So we are going to dig a bit deeper into this issue and get to know a little more about it as, What causes dry lips during pregnancy? What does the body indicate when we have dry lips? What are the symptoms or dry mouth and dry lips? How to Treat Dry Lips During Pregnancy?
What are the causes of Dry lips during pregnancy?
There are a number of causes for dry lips during pregnancy. Let’s discuss about a few of them:
1. Dehydration
Your body gets dehydrated when it loses water faster than the intake. It happens because the body requires a lot of water to support you as well as the growing baby. The metabolism rate of a pregnant lady’s body is always at an all time high leading to loads of consumption of energy and water. Severe dehydration can lead to dizziness, head aches, dark coloured urine, pain in the lower abdomen area, and also dry and chapped lips.
2. Gestational diabetes
This is a kind of diabetes that occurs in women only during pregnancy. It can lead to severe health complications and women might have to be under insulin therapy too. But owing to this women can also suffer from dry lips during pregnancy.
3. Hormonal variations
Dry lips can also be definitely because of the high surge of hormones in the body of a pregnant lady. The hormones are working at double the rate now to grow a healthy baby in the mother’s women a side effect of this whole process can be dry lips during pregnancy.
4. Sleep related issues
As the pregnancy advances sleep can be a thing of the past. It can be very discomforting and the position might hurt the back and lead to sleeplessness. As a result of this the women can again suffer from a few health issues which can lead to dry lips too.
5. Increased blood production
Owing to the increased load on the placenta and other organs of the body women face sudden gush of blood flow to these organs. Due to this increased production of blood. This also can lead to overall reduction in the oil production of the body making the skin feel dry and it doesn’t leave the lips too. They all start feeling dry and chapped.
6. Increased medication
As we all know that pregnant women require vitamins, iron, calcium etc in larger proportion than ever. And these have to be consumed in the form of supplement and tablets. These medications might be essential for the development of the baby but they do have some minor side effects on the pregnant mothers body. Of which chapped and dry lips during pregnancy is very common.
Do consult your doctor if you feel the medications are causing your symptoms of dry mouth and making it difficult for you. The doctor might be able to change the mode of medication or give a change of brand.
What are symptoms of dry Lips During Pregnancy and other problems?
Now as we saw earlier dry lips can be associated with lot of other health complications too which need care from a doctor. There are few other symptoms too that one can keep in mind to discuss with your doctor on your next appointment. These symptoms can be indicative of underlying problem that might require a visit to the doctor’s office –
- Sore throats which are constant and doesn’t seem to heal at all. No matter what home remedies you try or no amount of warm water is curing it.
- Tooth aches can be a common problem associated with dry mouth and chapped dry lips
- If the dry lips during pregnancy is paired with fever and fatigue it can be a caused due to any underlying health issues
- Difficulty in swallowing and feeding oneself.
- Unable to talk and dryness causing pain while vocalization.
How to Treat Dry Lips During Pregnancy?
1. Drinking Water:
First and foremost chapped or dry lips during pregnancy is an important sign which indicates that you are dehydrated and the body needs water. So keep a schedule of drinking at least 8 glasses of water on a daily basis. It’s important to keep yourself as well as the baby hydrated. Water may not seem to be causing any difference but it’s the key source of energy manufacture in our body.
2. Don’t lick your Lips:
Make it a point not to lick your lips when they are dry as when the saliva dries it would lead to further drying of the lips. And it may lead to even more cracked and painful lips to take care of. It might seem to be soothing while you do it but it would definitely cause troubles later.
3. Use Normal lip balms:
Apply normal vaseline or lip balms to keep the lips hydrated, subtle and fresh. Try using balms and products which are natural in origin as one tends to bite the lip and the product might enter the tummy which might cause troubles later.
4. Medication:
If you feel there is some underlying pathology causing the trouble do get it checked by your doctor. Do not consume any kind of medication or apply any kind of ointment without the consent of your doctor. It is neither recommended for you nor your baby.
Conclusion
So folks this was a gist of reasons revolving dry lips during pregnancy. Always remember that dry lips sometimes are just due to the climate changes too. So if you feel that your area is too dry or the room that you sleep in is quite dry all you got to do is use a humidifier in the room that you sleep.
Early in the pregnancy dry lips can mean nothing so do not worry much and take hasty decisions. Always consult your doctor before you take any medication.
Happy parenting!!
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