I've had a lump in my lower lip for over 18 months (give or take a couple) it's been so long i don't even remember when exactly i saw it for the first time.
I train mixed martial arts and do full contact sparring on a regular basis. After a month or so of joining the gym where i currently train i got cought with a left hook right in the mouth. I had a busted lip for about a week or so. A couple of months after that happened i noticed the lump on my lip.
Initially after i got i did some research and came to the conclusion by reading this and other sites that it was a mucocele. Seeing that mucocles can be caused by trauma i assumed it was that busted lip i had months ago.
After reading some of the stories in this forum about post-op numbness, disfigured lips, scar tissue and also that most people can live with it without any complications i decided i was just going to let it be since it was barely noticeable.
Recently though, about a month ago, i got in the ring and forgot to put on my mouth piece. I got tagged with a simple jab in the mouth and i felt a little pain where my lump is. The following day i noticed that the lump was larger.
Before this day i had gone to my dentist and she said that as long as it didn't grow larger (by itself i assume) it was nothing to be concerned about. The lump didn't change in size for over 15/16 months until i got punched right there again.
Seeing that it had now pretty much doubled in size (doc said it is approx 1 centimeter in diameter) i decided to go to an Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon for a consult. He said he didn't know if it was a mucocele or an angioma but that it had to be removed and then sent to pathology.
He told me a vertical 1-inch incision would have to be made around the lump and that about a half-centimeter scar line would be visible with my mouth closed. As it always happens to me with doctors when he asked me if i had any questions i was blank and i only told him that i was really concerned how it would look after the surgery. He said that they do that all the time and there would "most likely" not be a lot of scar tissue and that "he didn't think" the stitches could tear but that it could happen. Gee, thanks doc.
All was pointless after i was told how much it would cost. 3100 dollar procedure of which my insurance covered 80% but insurance didn't cover anesthesia (which the doc said would be general, the twilight one some people talk about here)... 45 minutes of it... which was about 1000 dollars, so my total out of pocket cost for the lump removal would be 1300 dollars.
I'm really hesitant about surgery. I'd much rather keep the lump than live with a disfigured or half numb mouth. Should i try to pop it once before doing surgery? Live with it? Shop around for doctors?
-fighter
