I think like most of us, I walk around every day ignoring a wide variety of medical issues. Some of those issues could be taking years off of my life, but being a typical male, I will probably wait until those issues prevent me from working until I am actually bothered enough by them to do something about them.

If I may make an editorial comment here, the leading cause of death among men has nothing to do with a specific ailment or condition. Almost all of us die from two things, apathy and stubbornness, we don't care what's wrong with us until it really hurts and we won't go get seen about because, well, we are men.

One of the nagging little issues I am dealing with today is a similar issue that a co-worker was having. That issue? Cracked skin in the corner of our mouths. You may have actually had this issue from time to time. To be honest I didn't really notice I had it until I decided to eat an orange for breakfast. When that acidic juice hit the open wound, suddenly I remembered.

Doctors call this malady angular cheilitis. I am going to remember that name the next time I need some sympathy from someone. I will tell them that I suffer from angular cheilitis and I need special treatment. Why? Because I am a man and when we finally admit to having a medical issue we expect to be treated as if we are babies.

Angular cheilitis is really easy to treat. It's most commonly caused by a yeast infection born of your own saliva. The saliva pools in the corner of your mouth, which causes the skin to crack and allows the infection to proceed.

You might want to check with your doctor about getting treatment for this malady. Because it could be fungal or it could be bacterial. Depending on what is causing your issue the treatments could be a little different. However, both treatments require the application of a topical antiseptic or antifungal cream.

Usually, the issue will go away with daily treatment in a span of two weeks or less. In the meantime, you can soothe the discomfort of dry skin cracking when you open your mouth to inhale a boudin ball by applying lip balm to the affected area.

You could also apply petroleum jelly or coconut oil as well. All of these products help keep the skin in the corners of your mouth supple and soft so they won't crack anymore while the sores are being healed.

And just in case your angular cheilitis has slowed down your boudin consumption and you have a few extra links leftover, we've got some great suggestions on what you could do with that while your lips are healing.

Seven Things To Do With Left Over Boudin

 

 

 

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