Home Skin CareSpots on the skin Black spots on the lips: why they come out and how to remove them

Black spots on the lips: why they come out and how to remove them

by Alivia Nyhan
Published: Last Updated on

Do you suffer from stains on your lips and do not know what to do to remove them? You should know that you are not the only person who suffers from this problem and that it may correspond to different origins.

Chronic inflammation, bad habits like smoking, excessive sun exposure, and even allergies can cause this problem.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic in-depth, knowing the leading causes of black spots on the lips and how to remove them, keep reading this FastlyHealarticle.

Dark spots on the lips due to excess melanin

This problem, known as melanin spots, is caused by the abnormal accumulation of skin pigment called melanin. More pigment focused on one site results in black to brownish, flat areas that occur primarily on the lower lip.

These lesions do not usually give symptoms, and they appear and grow very slowly. Only the aesthetic change that they can produce is usually striking.

It can be multiple injuries, but there is only one more often. This can appear at any time in life. Often they are small lesions smaller than 5 millimeters.

Similar lesions can also appear in the mouth, known as oral melanic spots, usually slightly larger and occur in middle-aged people.

Treatment

These injuries do not need treatment because they do not degenerate or produce complications or malignant changes.

The only way to remove them is by abrasion or scalpel excision. This treatment mustn’t leave a scar since it can be “worse the remedy than the disease.”

When melanic spots proliferate, the lesion may need to be biopsied or removed to differentiate it from a more severe problem – malignant melanoma.

Melanoma

Melanoma is a tumor located in any skin area, including the lips. However, this happens very rarely and sporadically.

The abnormal proliferation of melanin cells tends to invade nearby tissues. Hence its gravity.

Treatment

The removal of the lesion is indicated in these cases. It must include part of the healthy tissue to ensure that it has been complete.

Radio, Immuno, or chemotherapy may also be necessary, depending on the case.

As in all kinds of severe and chronic diseases, it is essential to change habits: unhealthy eating, irritants, unnatural cosmetics, excessive sun exposure are some of the issues to review.

Post-inflammatory dark spots on the lips

When an inflammatory reaction in the area of ​​the lips persists for a particular time, a darker color may appear in that place. It can continue for a long time, even after the inflammation that caused the problem disappears.

One possible cause is an allergy. Another is fungal infections or habits that damage the skin or mucosa. This pigmentation could become chronic if there were intense sun exposure during the healing period. Hence, it is essential to take proper care of the skin after suffering an injury, not just the lips.

Treatment

The first thing is prevention:

  • Avoid excessive sun exposure if you suffer from lesions on the lips.
  • Properly hydrate the body, not only on the outside but also on the inside. Drinking sufficient amounts of water helps in faster recovery from injuries.
  • A healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, free of processed and excess meat and dairy products, is key to limiting inflammatory processes in the body. Therefore, maintaining a diet as natural as possible will make you recover faster and better from any injury to the lips.
  • It can be imperative to avoid bad habits such as biting the lips, permanently moistening them with saliva, or promptly curing fungal infections (better known as mouth sores).

Being an aesthetic problem, a solution is not necessary unless it is annoying. Exfoliation or abrasion can be used, but always remember that the tendency to pigmentation or scar formation may persist.

Smoker’s melanosis

The black spots on the lips or in the mouth of smokers usually correspond to the number of cigarettes they smoke. A person who smokes more is more likely to suffer these types of injuries, and these injuries are more extensive or in greater quantity.

It is directly tobacco smoke and toxins that stimulate the melanocytes of the lips, gums, palate, among other sites.

Treatment

It has been seen that the lesions decrease and even disappear when a smoker falls the number of cigarettes he consumes and even more when he stops the habit. Here’s the key to treatment: improve the practice that caused the problem.

Trying to solve it with creams or removing the lesions only covers the problem, which will continue to appear if the actual cause is not corrected.

Peutz Jeghers Syndrome

It is a rare disease in which they appear:

  • Melanic spots in different areas of the skin, including the lips.
  • Polyps in the stomach, intestine, and colon.
  • Possibility of cancer in other areas of the body.

It is a hereditary problem that usually appears in childhood. The spots typically improve at puberty.

Treatment

The main thing is the periodic control, especially of gastrointestinal polyps. In addition, when this diagnosis is reached, it is essential to rule out the more complicated problems of this syndrome.

Melanic spots do not usually require treatment.

This article is merely informative. At FastlyHeal .com, we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor if you present any condition or discomfort.

If you want to read more articles similar to Black spots on the lips: why they come out and how to remove them, we recommend entering our Skin, hair, and nails category.

You may also like

Leave a Comment