CLEVELAND -- For some, it serves a medical purpose.

But for others, especially women, lip balms seem to be part of their everyday lives. There could be a reason.

Loving lip balm could be more than skin deep. Dr. Kevin Cooper provides some medical advice on how to care for your kisser and avoid "lip balm addiction."

"Habit is part of it, but the other is that once you do it on a regular basis, your skin is sensing that it doesn't have to harden as much as it might have to if you weren't using lip balm all the time," said Cooper, chairman of the Department of Dermatology at University Hospitals in Cleveland.

He said you can also blame the environment for your addiction. "Something about our environment is drying people out ... making skin and allergies dry us out. One manifestation is that lips can get dry like the skin gets dry," Cooper said.

If you have hay fever, eczema, or use acne drugs, like Accutane, you're more prone to lip dryness and may really have the need to "balm" up.

Cooper warned that not all lip balms are created equal. He recommended that if you aren't concerned with taste and smell, and really are chapped, try the basic wax stick or simply Vaseline to moisturize.