Is Carmex Good For Sunburned Lips?
Even if you are careful with sunscreens, it is easy to forget your lips which must be protected with lip balm. In this post, I will explain whether is Carmex good for sunburned lips.
Not protecting your lips from the sun can be extremely dangerous since the lips are considered the most vulnerable part of the skin. It is important to remember that sunburn on the lips can cause serious health problems including skin cancer if not treated properly.
“Lips are an important part of the skin to protect because they are exposed every single day, year-round,” says Elizabeth Hale, M.D., co-founder of Complete Skin MD in New York City.
Carmex is good for sunburned lips because it contains sunscreens in its formula and an SPF of 15. Since it contains sunscreen, it is beneficial in the prevention of sunburn, but you should not apply it if your lips are already sunburned.
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How is Carmex Good For Sunburned Lips
The best way to „heal“ sunburned lips is to prevent them from getting sunburned. Dermatologists have various methods of treating sunburned lips, but they constantly stress how important it is to protect the lips before sunburn occurs which means that we must prevent sunburn from happening.
This is when Carmex and other lip balms that contain Sunscreens in their ingredient list come to play.
Carmex contains two sunscreens and those are Octyl Methoxycinnamate and Benzophenone-3.
Benzophenone-3 is a naturally occurring chemical found in some flowering plants. It protects the lips from the sun by absorbing its ultraviolet (UV) rays and scattering them.
Octyl Methoxycinnamate is a chemical used to block UV-B lights from the sun and the thickness of the sunblock itself also forms a physical barrier to protect the skin as well as the chemical barrier provided by the ingredients.
Carmex lip balm has an SPF of 15, and SPF stands for sun protection factor. This falls in the category of recommended SPF by dermatologists when it comes to lip balms. “SPF 30 would be better,” says Dr. Nasir.
“If there is no SPF listed on the lip balm, it likely offers no—or negligible—sun protection.” Dr. Nasir stated that an SPF of 15 is a minimum when it comes to sunburn protection with lip balms.
If you don’t know what SPF is, it is measure how well the sunscreen will protect the skin from UV-B rays which is a kind of light that causes sunburns.
It is also recommended to apply Carmex every day to prevent any sunburns on the lips. Dr. Nasir stated that “Lip balm with sunscreen is not just important in warm weather or the beach, but also at high altitude, even in winter,”.
Depending on the severity, sunburns heal in 7 to 14 days, says Dr. Nasir.
The doctor also stated that if you are exposed to the sun for a longer period you should apply lip balm every 2 hours.
Of course, this lip balm can be Carmex since it has big enough SPF.
It is also important to note that the lower lip is more exposed to the sun and that you should take special care of protecting it.
The higher lip is partially protected by the nose and it is faced downwards.
This is also the reason why 90% of skin cancers on the lips develop on the lower lip.
Is Carmex Good For Lips After They Got Sunburned?
Even though Carmex contains sunscreen it is not recommended to apply it if your lips already got sunburned because of the other ingredients it contains.
Carmex has a few alcohols in its formula that can irritate your already damaged skin, next to the alcohols you should care about salicylic acid which is used to exfoliate the dead skin cells and can cause an allergic reaction.
Carmex also contains benzocaine which is an anesthetic that is extremely effective but it is not appropriate for sunburned lips because it can cause allergic reactions and worsens the condition of your lips.
We also have a text that explains every case when Carmex can be bad for your lips. Here is the link to that post.
What are treatments for sunburned lips since you cant use Carmex?
1. Cold compresses
Cold compresses are one of the best ways to ease the pain from sunburned lips. Wrap some ice into the soft material or a bag and then put it on your lips, this should give immediate relief.
It is important to note that you should avoid putting ice directly on your lips since it can do more harm than good. Ice can cause microscopic frostbite. Just imagine the lips that went from being sunburned to micro frostbite in a short period of time. You definitely want to avoid that.
2. Aloe vera
Aloe vera soothing gel can be used to relieve the pain of sunburned lips. It would be perfect if you have a plant at your home and could squeeze the gel out of it and apply it on your lips.
Of course understanding this is not the case for most people, you can use after-sun gels but make sure t use the one made 100% of aloe vera gel.
If you would like to purchase one, here is the link for 100% pure organic aloe vera gel.
3. Anti-inflammatories
Sunburn causes inflammation of the skin, probably the best way to deal with the problem is to go directly for the solution. You can use anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin, naproxen, ibuprofen, and diclofenac.
4. Apply a cloth soaked in tea
Another great way of soothing your pain is to apply cooled green or chamomile tea on your lips. Both of these teas contain ingredients that have anti-inflammatory properties.
5. Moisturizers
This is why many people think that Carmex will help them after their lips get sunburned, moisturizing your lips after they are sunburned is important but for the reasons I have said above, Carmex should not be used for this.
Instead, you should use moisturizers with simple ingredient lists, Vanicream brand is famous for this and I can only recommend their moisturizer. Here is the link if you want to check the price on Amazon.
CONCLUSION
You surely can use Carmex for protection against sunburn but should avoid it when it comes to treating already sunburned lips.
There are certainly better ideas when it comes to treating sunburned lips than putting Carmex on them.
