leaving them alone doesnt work as you and everybody else have figured out. all you are doing is letting them dry out severely and causing maybe yeast or somthing else to grow under the dry crusts. I recommend either drinking lots of water and using saliva and biting off the white stuff in the shower or using an emmolient and lots of water such as olive oil or somthing along those lines. all natural chapstick also helps but its important to drink lots of water and dont avoid water touching your lips.