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HEALTH
LIP BALM JUNKIE
Is the addiction fact or fiction?
by Kristen Maxwell
Driving to Arkansas City last weekend, senior Courtney Colquhoun began to feel
the usual symptoms take over. First her lips were just dry but then the skin began to feel tight and her lips started to crack. When Colquhoun anxiously reached for her
can develop hydrogenates and flavors in
FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF
lip balm, it was nowhere to be found.
To find out if you're truly addicted, take the 15-question quiz at http://quiz.ivillage.com/ health/tests/lipbalm. htm
Colquhoun is a self-diagnosed lip balm addict who swears by her Chapstick Lip Moisturizer SPF 15.
"I apply every 30 minutes," Colquhoun says. "I just can't live without it."
The debate over whether or not lip balm is actually addictive has been circulating for years, showing up in consumer magazine articles and on Internet sites such as lipbalmanonymous.com. Despite balm's popularity and "addicts" like Colquhoun, there is not yet proof that a physical dependency exists.
In order to call a lip balm obsession an addiction, there has to be physical dependency and an increasing need as well as withdrawal symptoms when use of the product stops, says Lawrence dermatologist Lee Bittenbender. As far as any doctors can tell, none of these exist with the soothing balm.
Other factors can imitate addiction symptoms, Bittenbender says. The lips
o sensitivities to s — preservatives
n lip balms — that can cause a symptom such as chapped lips to become persistent, he says. But he insists there is no physical addiction.
"The only addiction there couldbeperhaps a psychological addiction."
Thispsychologicaldependency
"I apply every 30 minutes. I just can't live without it."
Bittenbender says.
—senior Courtney Colquhoun
is most likely a result of the way yourlips are accustomed tofeeling while using lip balm. Your lips have natural moisturizers in them but if you use lip balm regularly, your lips feel drier without it, leading to a psychological need for balm.
While most dermatologists; refute the possibility of addiction, Lip Balm Anonymous
sympathizes with addicts. The Web site contains information about the so-called "Chapstick Conspiracy" as well as the "12 Steps and Testimony of Recovery." Though most of the content seems unreliable, it does include articles from The Chicago Tribune and a study from the University of Alabama claiming lip balm addiction
may actually exist. Although, ranked #327 in the book 505 Unbelievably Stupid Web Pages, the site shouldn't be taken too seriously.
"I have to be addicted, it's almost pathetic how much I am obsessed with my Chapstick," Colquhoun says.
Lip balm addicts can rest easy knowing this addiction is strictly psychological. But not all self-diagnosed addicts can be convinced so easily.
Whether it's a proven addiction or not, there are those like Colquhoun who will swear by their lip balms.