Got my first one at 34 and I feel weirdly embarrassed about it
I went my whole life thinking I was one of the lucky ones and then last month a blister showed up on my lip out of nowhere after a rough week at work. The sore itself was fine, it healed in about ten days, but I keep catching myself hiding my mouth in meetings and I cannot shake this feeling that everyone is staring. Does the self conscious part get easier the more you have, or do you just learn to care less?
Thank you for sharing. For most people the biggest lever is daily sun protection on the lips, even on cloudy days.
You're definitely not alone, I got my first one at 31 and spent a whole week convinced everyone was staring at my lip when honestly nobody even noticed. It gets so much easier once you learn your triggers, and there's zero shame in something half the planet carries around.
Oh I felt the exact same way when mine showed up in my thirties, like I'd somehow missed a memo everyone else got as a teenager. Honestly it's way more common than anyone talks about, and the embarrassment fades a lot faster than the sore does.