My EC developed from lip trauma. I got pretty severe dry lips, which were cracked and fissured looking. I think my lips were still normal lips that would have healed back to normal if I took better care of them. I am 100 percent positive that eating clementines and the citric juices getting into the cracks were the cause. I remember the deep stinging sensations from the juices going into the lip. I had a history of very dry lips during winter/fall season, and the lips always healed perfectly fine before. No doubt in my mind how I got this condition. I was pretty freaked out the first time I peeled my lips. I thought I was going to be disfigured or lose my lips. I remember reading somewhere that lips - like elbows - are high trauma areas. It's crazy to think how something so insignificant as eating became life altering.