Burning mouth syndrome?
 

My son has been complaining of burning and stinging lips for about a year. They have become so bad that he cries sometimes. They are not chapped. They do swell sometimes. I am going to take him to a dermatologist but Im afraid it will just be another issue that is unsolvable as every time we go, they acknowledge neurological/ vascular problems- but have no answers. He is a really tough kid, but this is getting worse and I'm sure it is related to whatever caused my nerve damage.
I found some info on fungal infections which are interesting. Cant think of what else it could be.

Kids, can have a lip licking tic. When this happens, the lips can get very painful after a while. I have seen some doozies in my life of kids who get Candida around the mouth.

First place to start is figuring out what is he doing with his mouth?

Is he licking paint brushes at school? (pointing watercolor brushes) Blowing up latex balloons?
Drinking alot of sugary drinks? Eating hard candies?
Allergic to toothpaste?

People with shellfish allergies get swollen lips.

Sounds like a trip to the allergist for him is coming.

For about a half a year I thought the same thing; that it must be because he is licking his lips at some point, which is why I though nothing of it. My brother used to do it and you could see a line of redness surrounding his lips. My son doesnt' have this though. He is 11, so past the paint brush licking stage at school:D.It continues to get worse. I put aquaphor and lansinoh at night to keep them from getting irritated and it helps a little.
The morning is the worst time when he first wakes up. Sometimes it even hurts to move his lips to eat or talk.

I'd try this:

https://www.abreva.com/

While it is targeting cold sores, it works basically by rebuilding the skin of the lips, with Omega-3 fatty acids.
This is a rather unique product, and is quite pricey.
But I think it is worth a try since nothing has worked for you yet.

OMG. Poor kid. I get this too - burning lips and inside of mouth paresthesias. Does he have anything going on inside his jaw or tongue? Does he have a sore throat?

If the lansinoh has lanolin in it, I'd stop using it. Some people cannot tolerate lanolin.

Since he is worse in the mornings, the two items you are using may be the culprits for the bad mornings.

Instead find a lip balm that does not have lanolin in it
Try the aquaphor only, and see if things change.

Also if the throat has a chronic low grade infection, a gargle with warm salt water may help before bed, since he is worse in the morning.

Maybe pure shea butter could help ?
I have a sensitive skin and can't tolerate many cosmetics and lip balms. I am using pure organic shea butter on my lips, this is the only thing that I found that calm my skin even when having allergies.

No burning inside. He says its like his lips have a deep stinging.

I actually just started the lansinoh and he thought it helped at first but told me last night the plain aquaphor is better. He said that even that doesn't take away the stinging. It just calms it slightly. He was so bad last night that I put the tiniest amount of my lidocaine. After 3 minutes, he was happy watching tv and they didn't get bad again till the morning. I was desperate because he was so upset. Don't know if I should have done that. When we go to the derm, hopefully will get an answer.
Will try salt water.

Yes shea butter and pure coconut oil are good for him, but no matter what he still burns and stings. :(