Learning what your triggers are is one of the best ways to prevent an eczema flare-up like weeping sores on the lips.
If you live with eczema or atopic dermatitis, the symptoms can become uncomfortable and painful during flare-ups. Depending on how severe your flare-up symptoms are, you might notice that your skin becomes cracked or starts to “weep”.
Weeping eczema can develop when the skin begins to ooze clear or yellow liquid, usually from cracks, sores, or pus-filled blisters on the skin. When you have weeping eczema on the lips, you may also notice fluid weeping from the area around your mouth or lips.
Below, we’ll share more about what weeping eczema looks like when it affects the lips, including what might cause this condition and how to treat it on the lips.
Why is my eczema oozing clear fluid?
If you have eczema, especially severe eczema, a fluid “weeps” from your skin during flare-ups, also known as weeping eczema. Sometimes, this fluid comes directly from the skin, but it can also ooze out of sores, blisters, or other areas that have cracked open.
Weeping eczema isn’t a specific type of eczema — rather, it’s a side effect of eczema symptoms or a complication due to eczema. While eczema that weeps clear fluid isn’t always a cause for alarm, but if it has a yellow or green tint, it may indicate an active infection.
Eczema is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that often develops in childhood, causing patches of dry, irritated, and itchy skin. People with eczema experience flare-ups, or periods in which symptoms worsen, and remission, when symptoms are minimal.
Certain types of eczema, such as contact dermatitis and dyshidrotic eczema, can cause fluid-filled blisters to appear on your skin. As your skin comes in contact with rough fabric from clothes or fingers scratching the skin, these blisters can burst open and weep fluid.
Weeping eczema frequently appears in areas where eczema affects, such as your arms, legs, backs of the elbows and knees, and face — including your lips.
Eczematous cheilitis, or eczema of the lips, can cause weeping or oozing fluid in or around your mouth and lips. Some of the symptoms of weeping eczema on the lips or mouth may include:
- fluid-filled blisters
- cracked skin or open sores near your mouth that weep
- patches or areas of skin that weep fluid
- red, discolored, itchy, or irritated skin in the surrounding area
- crusting in areas around the blisters or cracks
Weeping eczema can contract an infection as open sores, blisters, and other areas of your skin are more prone to bacteria and other microorganisms. When this happens, symptoms like fever and fatigue can accompany those mentioned above.
Sometimes, weeping eczema on the lips can also resemble cold sores — fluid-filled blisters that develop from the herpes simplex viruses. However, the major difference between weeping eczema on the lips and cold sores is the amount of blisters and where they appear.
People with darker skin tones may find their eczema symptoms lack the distinctive redness experts often discuss. Learn more about how eczema displays on people of color here.
Eczema treatment often involves a combination of medications and other therapies to treat flare-up symptoms, and lifestyle changes that aim to limit future flare-ups.
Medications
Weeping eczema indicates that there’s severe inflammation in the skin. The following oral, injectable, and topical medications can help:
- corticosteroids, which help treat inflammation
- antihistamines, which relieve symptoms like itching
- antibiotics, which reduce symptoms of skin infections
- immunosuppressants, which prevent flare-ups
Some of these treatment options, including topical corticosteroids and oral antihistamines, are available over the counter at most pharmacies. Other options, like antibiotics and immunosuppressants, typically require a prescription from a doctor.
Therapies
Some people with weeping eczema also benefit from different therapeutic treatments to help further manage severe symptoms. Discuss any new therapies or at-home remedies with your doctor or dermatologist.
Phototherapy is one treatment approach that uses ultraviolet light to reduce inflammation in the skin and help reduce severe eczema symptoms. Bleach baths are another treatment option that may help reduce the risk of infections if you have weeping eczema.
Lifestyle changes
Several at-home treatment approaches also play a key role in keeping symptoms to a minimum and reducing the risk of future weeping eczema flare-ups.
One of the most important approaches is avoiding triggers, both before and during flare-ups. Triggers can make symptoms worse during active flares. Other strategies include reducing stress, moisturizing your skin, and making dietary changes.
When to see a doctor or dermatologist
Although weeping eczema doesn’t always mean you have an infection, it’s still important to ensure you get treatment for it. When you have open sores, blisters, or other cracks in your skin, treatment is essential to reduce the risk of complications.
If you notice any new eczema symptoms like weeping or oozing — especially yellow, green, or red-tinted fluid — it’s important to speak with your doctor or dermatologist.
Weeping eczema can affect any area of your body where eczema usually appears, including your lips and mouth, if you have eczematous cheilitis. Eczema that weeps and oozes can be painful, and in some cases, oozing fluid can even indicate an infection in or under your skin.
Treatment for weeping eczema involves medications and at-home lifestyle changes, all of which can reduce symptoms like inflammation and pain and prevent further complications.