I totally see where your coming from on this and i agree. I wasnt the first to mention cell turnover theory but i have talked about it in the past. I did suggest in an earlier post thats its probably important for us to first work out exactly what symptoms we have because i dont think we all have the same condition. Some people have inflamation and some dont. Some people have symptoms more similar to exzcema and Psoriasis while others dont. I just seem to get the thicker layer of skin forming that eventually peels. Hyperkeratosis forms as a natural response by the skin to damage and irritation so its not actually a disease but a normal function of the skin. In this way it could be considered an auto-immune response in so much as the area where the skin forms has become sensitized and irritated and so forms a layer which peels (which irritates the skin further). Calluses can also be formed by applying pressure to the skin rather than damaging and tearing it so that may explain why calluses on hands and feet appear on the surface and on the lips it is deeper. I think that calluses naturally dry out quickly regardless of where they are on the body though because dead skin doesnt retain moisture easily. Its just a pain in the ass that we have it on our lips!

After using the acid treatment for a while now ive noticed that the layer that does peel on my lip is much thinner and not very deep at all it is just on the very surface. My condition has improved quite a bit from where it was a few months ago and now im thinking about just leaving the skin and let it do its own thing. Perhaps its the constant removal of the skin for cosmetic reasons that keeps the peeling cycle going even if it is just on the surface of the skin. I cant say though if that will work at all but it seems the logical thing at this stage for me anyway. Caluses form because of irritation so by reducing irritation in all forms it should disappear. The AHA acid treatments though seemed to have reduced the thickness of the skin that forms to a very thin layer so perhaps its best for me now to just leave it, no moisturiser or anything and see what happens.

Slightly more unorthodox now is something that was suggested to me by a Chi Gung master. For anyone who is unfamiliar with Chi Gung it is an ancient Chinese art of cultivating and manipulating energy in the body. He says that i did have a more than normal amount of energy around the lip area which he said showed up as a kind of shadow on the skin (stagnant 'chi'). Im going to ask him to treat it for me next Monday so i'll see what happens. Interestingly when i met him (slightly of topic now) he also talked about being involved in University experiments to treat patients with Schizophrenia and he said that they very strangely have most of their chi in their head. By 'pulling' the chi from the head and re-balancing it in the patients body (similar to Accupuncture) he was able to significantly alleviate their symptoms. Modern medical studies have found that by stimulating areas of the brain with different energies they can produce very noticeable symptoms of Schizophrenia in people whp dont even have the condition! After removing the stimulation though the symptoms dissapear. Its too much energy concentrated in too small an area in the body basically and this fits in with the idea of callus formation or exfoliative chelitis - irritation, rapid cell division, immune system over reaction (exzcema and allergies!). Though it is the initial DAMAGE to the area that DRAWS the energy there in the first place AND SO with the onset of worry over the condition MORE energy is dragged there and so exacerbates the condition. Maybye its the case that people who worry more about the condition of their lips or who have mental health problems have more symptoms i dont know. Certainly though i believe we bit or picked our lips because of some kind of mental stress and anxiety.

For now though im gonna leave my lips completely alone and see what happens over the next week or so.

If there is some truth in this then would a product that is used to treat calluses on feet and hands help our lips?

Ok ive found these two sites that i think sum up our problem, at least for people without inflammation and other symptoms similar to excema.


http://www.maxillofacialcenter.com/BondBook/mucosa/mucosa.htm



http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic643.htm#target1


They describe perfectly what should be our condition but its strange that ours has not resolved even after the cesation of lip/cheek biting and nibbling.

Im gonna ask a dermatologist about this.

Later.