do peptides make your lips tingle FAQ

Various medical conditions can cause numbness in your lips. Numbness, specifically in the lips, is more common in some conditions than others. For example, with some conditions, facial numbness may be a symptom, but numbness of only the lips is less common.

Numbness in your lips means that you’ve lost some feeling in your lips. It may be a complete loss of feeling that you can’t feel your lips at all or a partial loss of feeling or sensation. Lip numbness has many potential causes, including things such as being outside in cold weather and eating spicy food. In those cases, your lip numbness may go away on its own soon afterward. In other cases, your lip numbness could last longer and may need medical attention.

Numb lips can be caused by many things, ranging from something you ate to an infection. Here are some potential causes of lip numbness.

Lip numbness might mean that your lips feel completely numb, and you can’t feel them at all. Or they might feel partially numb. People often describe the sensation of numbness differently, as numb, tingly, weird, heavy, or even a feeling like the area is dead, says Santina Wheat, MD, MPH, a family medicine physician and a program director at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital. “Sometimes, people describe that they feel numbness or tingling in their lips, even just with chapped lips,” she says. “When people have allergic reactions, sometimes their lips swell, and they’ll describe that swelling to me not just as fullness but that it also feels numb,” as pressure increases in their lips, Wheat says. Lip numbness can happen in both lips or only one. It may come and go, or it may be consistent.

Sometimes, low levels of vitamin B12 or iron can cause numb lips.

Some types of cancer, including breast, prostate, and lung cancer, can cause numb chin syndrome, which is numbness in your chin and lower lip.

The treatment you need for numb lips depends on what’s causing the numbness. If the cause is some kind of allergy, “I would do my best to remove whatever that allergen is. Sometimes that’s antihistamine, sometimes it’s a little bit of steroids, treating the allergy,” Wheat says. If it’s an allergy to a new lotion or lip balm that you started using, stop using it right away, she says. That may be all the treatment you need. If your lip numbness is caused by another condition or deficiency, treatment would involve treating that underlying condition, such as taking medication for hypoparathyroidism. Typically, lip numbness on its own doesn’t need immediate medical attention. “Usually, if there’s other symptoms involved, I’m more worried. So, for example, if it’s an allergy and you’re continuing to swell, or [you’re] having difficulty breathing,” you should go to the ER, Wheat says. “Similarly, if there’s numbness, but also part of the face muscles aren’t moving, then I’m more concerned about something more urgent,” she says. If you’re unsure of the cause or what to do, ask your doctor. “Don’t feel bad about reaching out to the doctor. We are happy to help,” Wheat says.

If your tongue is tingling, it may be due to many reasons, including oral allergy syndrome and multiple sclerosis.