Pimples Around Mouth? How Do I Get Rid of Them

TL;DR: Pimples around the mouth are usually down to a mix of saliva, lip products, food contact, and friction from talking or touching your face, all on top of normal breakout triggers. Often, the best course of action is a good acne creamy wash.

The area around your mouth has to put up with things that the rest of your complexion doesn’t. Because of where it is, saliva gets on it, food touches it and it’s even known to have lip balm smeared on top of it on occasion. Pimples around mouth are relatively common as a result, and they can be trickier to settle than ones on your forehead or cheeks.

Zits around your lips can feel quite stubborn. You treat it as you think you’re supposed to, but then you find yourself unconsciously wiping your mouth with the back of your hand or putting any random comedogenic lip balm on without thinking about it. 

So, to clear up some confusion, we now look at why mouth breakouts are so common, why you have to treat the area slightly differently and what you need to know to get it under control. 

What Causes Pimples Around Mouth Areas?

A few things tend to overlap when discussing the matter of how pimples around mouth areas form. We know that it can take quite a beating from us just living our normal lives, but what is it exactly that’s making those zits appear?

• Saliva irritation – Saliva goes onto the skin around your mouth every time you talk, eat, or lick your lips. Over the course of a day, that constant moisture and dryness cycle can irritate the skin and make it more reactive to breakouts.
• Lip products – Lip balm, gloss, and some lipsticks can clog pores around the edge of your mouth, especially if they’re heavy or waxy. If you’re reapplying throughout the day, that build-up will just keep sitting there until it’s wiped or washed away.
• Food contact while eating – Oily or sugary foods touching the skin around your mouth, even briefly, can contribute to clogged pores. It’s not usually the main cause, but it can add to everything else that’s going on and tip the balance. 
• Resting your chin on your hand – It’s an area that gets touched constantly throughout the day, and if you’re deep in concentration at work or school, you might not even notice yourself putting your chin into your hand. 
• Hormonal breakouts – Sometimes, there’s not a great deal you can do about it, as some people get breakouts around the mouth because of their normal hormonal cycle.

Understanding why they happen is one thing – another is learning how to slowly but surely ensure they go and stay away for as long as possible. What you might be pleased to hear is that there is a way for you to turn the tide and it’s as simple as choosing the right product for the job. 

How to Clear Up Pimples Around the Mouth

As we’ve just seen, there’s a bunch of different things that cause zits around the mouth, so the solution – perhaps unsurprisingly – needs to be multi-layered. First things first, get yourself a good quality acne creamy wash with benzoyl peroxide and use it as regularly as your skin tolerates it, be it daily, twice-daily or every other day. 

If you’re new to benzoyl peroxide, we’d recommend starting on a 4% concentration, rather than the higher 10% strength. Wash the area properly with the product, which will allow it to address the bacteria that’s driving the breakouts. 

You also need to do your very best to not touch the area. You might not be able to avoid it completely, but if you notice it, try to consciously stop yourself. It may seem like a minor thing, but it can positively affect how many zits you get near your mouth.

Also, be mindful of any new products you’re using or new foods you’re trying, as they could introduce something new and set you back. It’s basically about being as kind as you can to the skin around your mouth to simply allow it to recover. 

Getting on Top of Pimples Around Mouth Areas 

Pimples around the mouth tend to stick around longer simply because of where the skin is in relation to it. The fact that it’s so close to saliva, food, face products and more, means that breakouts here are often not caused by one single thing. It also means that it can be tricky to properly treat them so they go.

The good news is that once you treat the breakout properly with the correct benzoyl peroxide creamy wash for your skin’s tolerance and cut down on what’s irritating the area day to day, it should start to get better – as long as you’re consistently using it.

So, if you’re struggling with mouth breakouts and aren’t sure which way to turn, give a benzoyl peroxide wash a try and you might be surprised about how much control it affords you. 

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