Perleche for Dummies

Perleche, also known as angular cheilitis, is a condition that affects the corners of the mouth. You know how the corners of your mouth sometimes get dry and cracked, and it's kind of like a little cut? Well, that's what perleche is. It's when the skin in the corners of your mouth gets irritated, inflamed, and sometimes even infected. It can be really uncomfortable and make it difficult to eat or talk without feeling pain.

Let me explain it a bit more. Imagine the corners of your mouth like two little gates that open and close. Normally, these gates stay nice and healthy, but sometimes they can get weak and start to crack. This can happen if you have dry skin, lick your lips too much, or if you have a vitamin deficiency. When these gates crack, it creates tiny openings for bacteria and other germs to get inside. And as you can imagine, having all those germs hanging out in the corners of your mouth can cause some problems, like infection and inflammation.

So, to sum it up, perleche is a condition where the skin in the corners of your mouth gets dry, cracked, and sometimes infected. It can be caused by various factors like dryness, excessive licking of lips, or low levels of certain vitamins. It's important to take care of your lips and the corners of your mouth to prevent perleche from happening.