The latest product from the EIB Store -- Rush Lip Balm
Posted on 07/17/2005 5:09:54 AM PDT by ShadowDancer
Addicted To ... Lip Balm? It Happens, Experts Say
Woman Applies Stick Up To 60 Times Per Day
UPDATED: 2:45 pm EDT July 15, 2005
CLEVELAND -- Most people use lip balms once in a while, but for a few people, those little tubes have become an obsession.
If you notice the people around you applying and re-applying lip balm, it may not be a sign of dry lips, but of an addiction, reported WEWS-TV in Cleveland.
There are actually Web sites devoted to the problem.
Carrie, a lip balm user, says she has to have her tube with her all the time -- and she applies it more than just now and then.
"It's almost involuntary, but probably 50 to 60 times a day," she said.
In case you doubt the addictive power of lip balm, it took only minutes in a crowd of people to find those who get pretty worked up about it, especially the flavored stuff, the television station reported.
"Oh yeah, and eat my lips, mmm," Louise Tufts said.
Dr. Kevin Cooper, a dermatologist at University Hospitals in Cleveland, offered a theory about how people get so stuck on their Chapsticks.
"I think it could become repetitive behavior, more like habit, in same sense that some people become fixated orally with smoking, or chewing on pens," Cooper said.
Ingredients like camphor and menthol give lips a tingly rush, another addictive sensation, WEWS reported. The problem is some of the ingredients can create the need for more lip balm.
"The menthol can be drying, can take out moisture and interfere with function of outer layer of skin, so don't have natural barrier anymore, so now need moisturization," Cooper said.
Using more can create the need for more. So how do you battle this addiction?
"The best way is to gradually wean down," Cooper said. "Try to go to a couple times a day, maybe breakfast, lunch, dinner. Then try to cut one out, maybe over three to four weeks to get yourself off."
Cooper recommends the most plain, unflavored wax-type lip balm when you do need one. He said fewer chemicals are better. More serious dermatitis around the lips may need medication.
No, that would be Preparation H addiction. That's a whole 'nother thing.
My lips have always tended to get really dry and chapped, as far back as when I was a kid. Plain old vaseline doesn't do much to help.
I apply it about four or five times a day.
Due to the fact that I'm in a very hot, dry cimate.
But I don't feel all panicky if I dno't have it with me or anything. LOL
Only the leaded paint will do, though. The more modern kind is too wimpy and doesn't pack enough punch.
(Yes, I'm just kidding....)
I'm addicted to goofy threads at FR.
Seems we meet at the same ones pretty often, Allegra...
Similar IQ's, you think?
:-)
Seems we meet at the same ones pretty often, Allegra...
Similar IQ's, you think?
You bet! Downright scary, isn't it? And if we ever meet up (which we're just going to have to do next time I'm in Houston), others should be afraid. Be very afraid. ;-)
I'd love to get together the next time you're in Houston to make the city very afraid!
I suspect it's an oral fixation not unlike gum chewing or in some cases, cigarette smoking. I've seen the phenomenon and wondered about it.
My little nephew is WAY into the flavored stuff.
I keep warning him that his lips are gonna get so soft that his whole head is gonna implode.
Jack Butler: I understand that you little guys start out with your woobies and you think they're great... and they are, they are terrific. But pretty soon, a woobie isn't enough. You're out on the street trying to score an electric blanket, or maybe a quilt. And the next thing you know, you're strung out on bedspreads, Ken. That's serious.
So if I never go to work without makeup, am I a makeup addict? And if I can't sleep without a couple blankets even on the hottest nights, am I a blanket addict? Where can I go and get paid to sit around all day and think up stuff like this (as long as I can wear makeup)?
It's a gateway drug. Yup. That's it. One day chap stick, the next day, HEROIN.
Can you imagine the "Interventions" show they'd have for that (lip balm...heroin's already been done)?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.