Home remedies · Mouth, teeth, eyes & feet
No home remedy here replaces treatment, and none is talked down. What has done good for generations does good — even if no one ever measured it. Where something is well studied, it says so. Where it is only experience, it says that too.
Apply a greasy, fragrance-free balm several times a day, do not lick, and before going out in winter.
Lips have no oil glands and dry out faster than any other skin. Saliva evaporates and takes moisture with it — licking makes it worse.
Balm with menthol or camphor cools briefly and then dries further.
Cracked mouth corners that do not heal point to iron, B12 or zinc deficiency or to a fungus — then it is worth looking beyond the lip.
To the doctor or dentist: facial swelling with fever, toothache with trouble opening the mouth, a knocked-out tooth — that is an emergency with a short window. For the eye: sudden loss of vision, severe pain, flashes of light. Sore places in the mouth lasting beyond three weeks.