Having chapped lips is one of those health annoyances in life that’s technically survivable but can still make your life pretty miserable. After all, dealing with dry, peeling lips are pretty much the opposite of fun—especially if they get to the point where they bleed.

Here’s the thing: There’s a reason behind your super dehydrated lips. While it could be as simple as not drinking enough water, licking your lips too much, or eating salty foods, the root cause can sometimes be an underlying health condition like sunburn, allergic reactions, or skin cancer. If that’s the case, no amount of lip balm—yep, even the really good stuff—is going to fix that.