Hey guys, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this. I've been on accutane for only 2 weeks at 20mg. I wasn't expecting the side effects to be so strong so early but my lips are a state. Cracked, sore, bleeding. I have been using nivea hydro care lip balm but it's not doing anything. Can someone PLEASE recommend something to help me? I live in England but if it means buying online I will do it. Thank you
Hydrocortisone ointment. I am sure your chemist can fix you up with something too. When I was on accutane my lips got horrible as well. I was suprised they didn't fall off to be honest lol. It's terrible. Anyways my dermatologist prescribed me a ointment. It's not over the counter it was something that needed to be compounded for me but it was made up of Mupirocin 2% and desonide 0.05% helped a bunch
Im only about a week on acc, but ive been using bag balm (Green tin, for cows but also for humans!) In love with it so far. Not sure if you can purchase it in england but maybe try amazon? Also Aquafor is a really great lip product for those on accutane. Also try not to lick your lips. And drink about 2400- 3000 ML of water throughout the day. I have a water bottle thats exactly 750 ML so i know exactly how much im drinking everyday which helps. Dont take hot showers or long showers either. i hope this helps!
I second the hydrocortisone ointment, it was recommended by my dermatologist and it did wonders for my lips when they were at their worst. You just can't use it too often, follow the directions on the label. Some people also like Dr. Dan's Cortibalm (contains hydrocortisone) but I didn't find it all that helpful. I don't know if your lips burn or not but mine used to burn like they were on fire and a cool washcloth would make them feel better. Hope your lips feel better soon!
I just discovered bag balm thanks to another lovely user on this forum and I'm loving it. Apparently its for cracked cow utters haha! But it works WONDERS on cracked lips. The big tin is comes in is awkward to put in my purse so I just put some into an older blistex tub so I can bring it with me everywhere. Also I am liking Aveeno Intense Relief Therapy (its a regular lip balm tube), it has jojoba and shea butter in it and it works pretty good. At night I put on jojoba oil and let it soak in. Then coat my lips in aquaphor. This system is seeming to keep the dryness at bay and its finally tolerable!
Aquaphor isnt really that bad- like every product, reactions are different from person to person. It was great for my brother, but for me it sat on my lips all day and made me feel like a grease ball. Anyways, bag balm i love so much more and its great for all over + sun burns!
I think in Target or CVS they have little aquaphor sample small sizes (I Think!) dont take my word for it.
I feel your pain, cracked lips made me stop continue the treatment the first time. It was just to painful. Searching on Internet I read good reviews about Lanolin (it has 4.7 out of 5 stars in MakeUpalley and originally formulated for cracked nipples) and it was my Holy Grail. I had to use chapstick or the traditional otc lip balms every hour but I just had to apply Lanolin every 5 hours or so. The downside is that somehow it gets really messy with the dead skin of your lips. Everyday I woke up with really dry lips and a nasty white film that I had to exfoliate carefully. So I continue with my search and a week ago I found a Korean lip balm that used with Lanolin makes wonders for me. Its called Dear Girl's lip balm (the one that also comes with a lip tint) from a brand called Etude House. Sometimes I even feel that I'm not on Accutane since I don't have cracked lips anymore and the dead skin doesn't accumulate as quickly. I apply both lanolin and the lip balm three times a day.
On my search, I have seen raven reviews about CO Bigelow My Favorite Night Lip Balm (5 out of 5 stars in MakeUpalley), that sadly nobody ships to my country; Dr. Dans CortiBalm (4.8 out of 5 stars) that is supposedly formulated for cracked lips on accutane.
Good luck!