CHEILITIS FROM SENSITIVITY TO OIL OF CINNAMON PRESENT IN BUBBLE GUM

Abstract

This case is being presented because of its unusual predilection and interesting etiology. It is a case of contact-type hypersensitivity involving the mucous membrane of the lips and is due not to direct contact with the agent per se but with the vapors of the oil. P. I., a woman aged 25, was referred to me because of a cheilitis of six months' duration. At the time there was thought to be some relationship between the patient's fur coat and her symptoms, a fact which subsequently proved to be erroneous. The eruption when first seen presented a swelling and mild erythema about the lips. The lips themselves were swollen, rough, fissured and scaly, and the patient complained of an itching and burning sensation. Closest scrutiny did not reveal the presence of vesicles. The lesions did not occur elsewhere on the body. She had been treated previously with various local topical