Shiny Lip Balm Attracts Sun; Boosts Lip Cancer Risk

Regular lip balm or lip gloss user? Beware! You may actually be standing an increased risk of skin cancer, as shiny lip balms and lip glosses attract more ultraviolet rays, warns a new study.

As the skin of the lips is thin, it is more prone to aging from sun damage, compared to the skin in the rest of your body.

Shiny lip balms and lip glosses have the opposite effect of sun blocks; instead, they attract the rays to the lips. "What most people don't realize is they're actually increasing light penetration through the lip surface by applying something clear and shiny to them," Dr. Christine Brown, dermatologist at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas notes.

One quarter of all Americans do not appear to use any form of lip protection. Furthermore, about 35,000 cases of lip and oral cavity cancer are diagnosed in US annually. Unfortunately more than half of the cases are detected as late stage three and four stage disease. Low public awareness of the disease is a significant factor, but these cancers could be found at early highly survivable stages through a simple, painless, 5 minute examination by a trained medical or dental professional.

Possible symptoms of lip and oral cavity cancer:
• Skin lesion, lump, or ulcer on the tongue, lip, or other mouth area

• Tongue problems

• swallowing difficulty

• Mouth sores that do not resolve in 14 days

• Loose teeth

• Dentures that no longer fit well

• Swelling of the jaw

• Pain in the lip or mouth

• Unexplained (regular) bleeding in the lip or mouth

• Initial numbness in the lip or mouth, followed by pain in the lip or mouth.

Dermatologists recommend an application of skin block with an SPF of 30 for anyone who's planning on being outdoors for more than 20 minutes at a time.