My husband got angular cheilitis after a visit to the dentist. He went to the doctor and was first prescribed antibiotic cream then antifungal one. Every 3 months AC seems to recur and we don’t know what else to do. I am scared I will get it from him too. Is there anything you can recommend? He tried taking multivitamins but they didn’t do much and a general blood test showed all his levels were normal. We are at a loss and don’t know what to do. It’s painful for him and stressing for me :(
Generally angular chelitis is caused by too much or not enough moisture. If lips are overly dry they may crack and burn and the skin can even become lichenified (thickened and itchy). Psoriasis and eczema can affect the corners of the mouth as well. In these cases lots of moisturizing helps and there are even steroid lip balms out there that help. If it’s from too much moisture (like saliva creeping in the cracks or constant lip licking) folks tend to get fungal growth. It’s not something that would be terribly contagious though because fungus requires a certain environment to grow.
Bacterial infections and chemical irritation can also cause it. With chemical irritation, it may be from eating a lot of acidic or spicy foods that can wear at the skin. In that case a dietary change can fix it.
Without seeing the person and taking a history I really can’t recommend any particular treatment. But I would encourage your husband to go back to his doctor and maybe even consider dermatology referral.
