How I got rid (I hope) of my mucocele

Hello,

I had the typical mucocele story (bit my lip, had a little clear bubble form afterward). I did not want to get surgery, so I figured I would just let it be for a while. It would get larger or smaller but never went away. I tried to pop it a couple of times, but it always came back. (Actually I noticed it never went completely away, there was always a small white speck. Then because of this site I read about something called micro-marsupialization. Basically they were using sutures to create a small hole in the lip membrane to allow the saliva to exit. The suture stayed in place until the hole healed, permanently open. So, I decided to try to mimic this, but without the suture part.

I picked up some extremely thin needles that are used by blood sugar monitoring machines. They are called lancets and can be found at a drug store. These are good because they are sterile, very small in diameter, and come in quantity so you can use a new needle often. They are pretty cheap too. Oh yeah and they are meant for poking holes!

So first I poked a miniscule hole in the mucocele. A small amount of saliva came out, but the bump was still there. Just be patient, becuase it takes a while to drain through a tiny hole. The next day I did the same thing, in the exact same location. After 2 days it was completely flat. Now I had done this before, and noticed there was still extra lip membrane from the deflated mucocele that was waiting to heal over and start the mucocele all over again.

So this time, every morning for 1 to 2 weeks I would make sure the small hole was still open by poking it very gently with the lancet. (Just the top layer) I never drew any blood. I wanted to keep the passage open for the saliva to exit, and was hoping my lip would heal around it.

After a few weeks I got to the point where I couldn't tell where the hole was, all the "extra" lip membrane had vanished, along with any trace of the mucocele. For the next week I still made a small hole in the approximate area - preventative maintenance I guess. I figured I could just add this to my daily routine. But I got lazy and stopped doing it, and to my surprise, the mucocele has not come back yet despite a few weeks of non poking. If it does, I figure I'll just let it breathe again. =) I despise surgery!

FYI my mucocele was right near the surface and was fairly small (1mm or 2). Your results may vary, but it would be great if it helped someone else out. Even if it doesn't make it go permanently away, it seems to be a good coping strategy.