Also known as perleche or angular stomatitis or cheilosis, this is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the corners of the mouth. A sufferer of angular cheilitis is generally connected with a Candida or Staphylococcal infection as well as oral candidiasis (thrush), indicated by a white lining on the tongue.

Those who are troubled with angular cheilitis often encounter a number of attacks each year, each continuing for days to weeks or even months.

People who are afflicted by this disorder include those with nutritional deficiencies in Vitamin B12, folate and iron, people with diabetes as well as those with persistent pooling of saliva, low immunity and have undergone radiation therapy.

While nobody is insusceptible to angular cheilitis, two age groups appear to be at larger risk.

Facial musculature that is not sufficiently supported by dentures can ultimately lead to angular cheilitis owing to dangling of the corners of the mouth. As such, angular cheilitis develops often in the elderly population who have to depend on dentures owing to loss of teeth.

A minor type of angular cheilitis called chapped lips attacks mainly young children and teenagers. It is observed that chapped lips are primarily triggered by low temperature (e.g. in winter).

Cracking, redness of the corners of the mouth, ulceration, tissue softness and drainage of pus are common characteristics of an angular cheilitis break.

Most patients of this mortifying condition will do just about anything to ease the pain and cure the infection once and for all despite the fact that angular cheilitis is not a life critical disorder.

The normal angular cheilitis sufferer will turn to their doctor for aid, not unlike what he / she would do for most medical diseases.

The angular cheilitis sufferer may be prescribed with medical antifungals such econazole, clotrimazole or nystatin or even oral antifungals. Depending on the seriousness of the angular cheilitis bouts, the doctor may even prescribe a blend of topical antifungal with a medical steroid such as hydrocortisone.

Unfortunately, these prescriptions have not been very effective.

Most angular cheilitis patients show a tendency to give up on alleviating their disorder; they simply tolerate the pain during the bouts and wait for the symptoms to disappear.

The painful bouts unfortunately do not vanish for most of angular cheilitis sufferers who have to endure legions at their mouth on an almost permanent basis.

The good news is that there are additional treatment options that can be found by carrying an online search.

For those of you who have (non-metal) dentures, you can start by soaking dentures overnight in a solution made up of 10 parts water to 1 part household bleach ? this is to make sure that the dentures do not act as reservoirs of angular cheilitis infection.

If you have metal dentures, you can minimise the risk of discoloring by using sodium benzoate or chlorhexidine mouth rinse.

There is also a method that makes use of conventional household items that is remarkably cheap for an angular cheilitis sufferer. This riskfree, simple and painfree method restricts and destroys the Candida bacteria by isolating this fungal bacteria and producing an environment they cannot survive in.