Self-Care for Angular Cheilitis (Cracked Corners of the Mouth)

I’ve told you about some of my experiments that have gone well – inclined sleeping, mouth taping, and dental probiotics, to name a few. Well, here’s one that didn’t.

A few months ago, I tried an oral appliance that is supposed to gently work to support proper jaw posture and airway function, only it didn’t fit well so I ended up with saliva pooling on the right corner of my mouth for several nights in a row. (When I sleep on my side, it’s usually my right.)

As you can guess thanks to the subject of this article, I ended up with what appeared to be a pretty angry angular cheilitis situation happening on that side of my mouth. A painful crack formed that made it hard to open my mouth wide enough to eat comfortably . . . which was frustrating, because, well, I really like food.

After trying several recommended home remedies that didn’t really help, I had an “aha moment’ that led me to try one more thing . . . and it worked!

I’ll share all the details below, but first a quick reminder: None of these statements have been evaluated by the FDA. This article is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition. If you have a skin concern, please talk with your healthcare provider.

What is angular cheilitis?

Angular cheilitis (pronounced key-LY-tis), also known as perlèche, is an inflammatory skin condition that shows up as red, cracked, sometimes crusty patches at the corners of the mouth – also called the labial commissures (1).

Sometimes it’s just on one side, other times both. It can feel dry, itchy, tender, or even painful – especially when you open your mouth wide to eat, laugh, or brush your teeth.

Though it’s often mistaken for chapped lips, angular cheilitis is a different issue altogether. In fact, it doesn’t usually affect the lips themselves – just the creases at the corners of the mouth (2).

It can also be confused with a cold sore, but there’s a key difference: cold sores can appear anywhere along the lips or lip line, while angular cheilitis is limited to the corners of the mouth.

What causes it?

There’s no single cause of angular cheilitis – in most cases, it’s what dermatologists call multifactorial.(1) That’s just a fancy way of saying there’s often more than one thing going on.

At the root, the issue usually starts when saliva collects in the corners of your mouth, often overnight or from frequent lip licking. As that saliva evaporates, it dries and cracks the delicate skin, creating tiny fissures.

Once the skin is broken, those moist little creases can become a welcoming environment for microbes like Candida yeast and Staphylococcus aureus – organisms that are usually harmless members of our skin’s natural ecosystem but can cause issues when conditions tip out of balance. (3)

Other contributing factors (let’s call them irritation triggers) can make the skin more vulnerable, including:

Ill-fitting dentures or oral appliances
Frequent lip licking or drooling (especially during sleep)
Nutrient deficiencies, particularly in B vitamins (like riboflavin and B12)
Use of retinoid-based skin products
A tendency toward dry mouth
A history of frequent antibiotic use

Also, as Mona Dermatology explains:

In most cases, angular cheilitis is benign and can be treated with simple interventions like moisturizing creams. However, if the condition becomes recurrent or persistent, it may signal an underlying health issue, such as diabetes or immune system deficiencies. Consulting a healthcare provider is recommended if the condition doesn’t resolve with basic care.” (4) (emphasis mine)

What I Tried (With Little Success)

Home remedy recommendations generally include things like frequent lip balm or petroleum jelly application. Some dermatologists suggest applying an over-the-counter antifungal medication along with an over-the-counter steroid, then moving to a prescription if that doesn’t work. (5)

I tried lip balm, which didn’t seem to help, plus natural moisturizers including tallow balm, shea butter and castor oil. Although I absolutely love all three moisturizers for use on intact skin, I didn’t feel like they helped as much in this situation. The dry, flaky skin on top was still dry and flaky . . . just now coated in oil.

I also dabbed the area with this hypochlorous acid skin care spray a few times a day. It seemed to calm the inflammation, but dryness was still a problem.

The Sweet Salve That Finally Helped

After trying several things with no real improvement, I started thinking about other ways to support my skin’s natural barrier so it could actually repair itself.

That shift led me to try something I already kept in my natural first aid kit: manuka honey.

Manuka honey isn’t just a sweet treat – it’s one of my go-to remedies for cuts, scrapes, small kitchen burns, and more. It’s incredibly viscous, which helps create a moist, protective barrier. It also has a naturally low pH, which discourages the growth of unfriendly microbes. (6) (7)

That’s not all it does, though. According to this study, manuka honey supports wound healing through a powerful mix of naturally occurring compounds like hydrogen peroxide, polyphenols, and bee defensin-1. What really sets manuka apart, though, is methylglyoxal (MGO) – a special compound found only in honey made from the nectar of the manuka tree.

Other honeys contain beneficial components too, just in different amounts and without that one unique compound.

I couldn’t find any formal research on using manuka honey for angular cheilitis specifically, but I did come across a few anecdotal mentions – enough to make me curious.

So I gave it a try. I dabbed a little on the corner of my mouth before heading out for a walk, and right away it felt completely different from everything else I’d used.

After a little while, it settled into a thin, slightly tacky layer that I barely noticed. But unlike the oils, which just sat on top of the flaky skin, the honey seemed to absorb into the area and actually support the healing process.

What is medical grade honey?

You’ve probably heard that babies under one year old shouldn’t consume honey due to the potential presence of Clostridium botulinum – a bacterium that’s commonly found in our environment, including soil, air, dust, and raw agricultural products.

Their digestive systems aren’t fully developed yet, so they can’t safely process certain spores that older children and adults typically handle without issue.

In most healthy people, the digestive tract neutralizes these spores before they can cause any harm. But when honey is applied to broken skin or open wounds, especially deep wounds that create an anaerobic environment – there’s a potential risk if the honey contains C. botulinum spores.

Although the researchers in this study “could not detect a single case report in the literature of C. botulinum wound infection related to the use of non-irradiated honey in wound care,” most honey products intended for topical use are sterilized as a precaution: Some examples include:

With that said, raw manuka honey has also been widely used in clinical settings. For example, this systemic review, which compared 8 Manuka honeys with 10 medical-grade honeys, concluded that:

Both Manuka honey and medical-grade honeys are effective against a variety of microorganisms. The overall most effective honey identified in this review is Surgihoney, with MICs as low as 0.1%. However, some Manuka honeys can be just as effective as medical-grade honeys, depending on the organism it is being used against. Furthermore, honey therapy could be an important strategy to combat infections and should be comprehensively trialled for use within a medical setting.” (8)

My Process

If you don’t know how your skin responds to honey, I recommend doing a patch test on a small area of your skin first. Here’s how:

The easiest and most widely used method for testing the skin for a reaction is to do a patch test. Apply a small amount of a product or an ingredient to a patch (small area) of skin on the inner lower arm, behind your ear, under your jaw, or near your neck. Rub it in and allow it to dry. Do not wash that area of the skin for at least 24 hours; watch for signs of a reaction. If there is no visible reaction to the product or ingredient, then it is likely that you will not react negatively to the product or ingredient when used on other parts of the body. The patch (small area) of skin can then be washed.” (9)

All good? Great, here’s the super simple process I used:

Apply a thin layer to clean, dry corner of the mouth 1–2 times per day (I chose after my morning workout and before bed)
Forget you’re wearing honey
Realize you can finally open your mouth wide enough to eat comfortably in. Go back to beloved tallow balm.

Want more research-backed natural remedies?

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