Home treatment for mucoceles that works every time

My daughter is four and a half years old and has two mucoceles on her lower lip. We have just visited the dentist who recommended we try salt together with a topical antiseptic mouthwash for a week. If that does not work then we are left with the biopsy and surgery route which we are not looking forward to. Is the alum/listerine treatment painful and is it suitable for a four year old?

What caused yours guest_guest. (I suspect mine (on left inner lip) was caused by a toothbrush - it was old with diverged brush-hairs pinning the thing - it started as canker sore, I bit it a couple of times and then it all started)

hi im 17 and i got that ball in my lip for like 4 months already and i didnt pay atention to it i thougth it would go away by it self but today i started to do a research about what is this and i saw first that u had to do surgery and i got scared and i saw that with alum and listerine but can anyone tell me how that treatment works what do i have to do pls if anyoone is kind enough and explain to me what i have to do do i have to poke it with a neddle ?

guest_guest "i thougth it would go away by it self but today i started to do a research about what is this and i saw first that u had to do surgery and i got scared"

My mucocele started as a small sore (a circle of pale pressed-in skin which was painful to the touch - I read that it is called 'canker sore' - I think I caused it (not a first time) with an old toothbrush (I guess some loose fiber punctured some of those tiny bubbles you can see on healthy inner lip and in mouth) - it healed before, but this time I bit it (crucial part of the problem) incidentaly so... now I have it).

...Anyway - i think the problem with mucocele is because the skin heals impropely - lip skin grew over that tiny bubble - so it cannot let out saliva - so it inflates - that's mucocele... so that's why they must cut it,

or remove that skin some other way (like bigfoot said with that 'alum' stuff - but I can't contact the guy (I even used personal messiging) - I wanted to see some photos of the process - he doesn't answer; maybe the one who made this forum should contact him via e-mail or somthing)... frustrating...

I've had a mucocele for over two months now. I finally went to an oral surgeon who wants to remove it with a laser to the tune of $800. There are no oral surgeons who participate in my insurance plan so I would be on the hook for procedure as well as the fee for the biopsy. I'm going to try the alum treatment. If this doesn't work, I'll look for an ENT to remove it. Thanks to all for all the great posts!

When I used the alum treatment I would half a cotton ball, dampen on portion, sprinkle a good bit of alum on dampened part and press against mucocele holding in place with lip.  I did this for about 20 minutes a day and then gargled with listerine 2 times each day.  Mine took about a week to heal. 

Hello All, I have had a mucocele for a couple months now and it has been driving me crazy. I went to the oral surgeon today, he said that I could try all the home remedies first, but in the end he thought it would need to be taken out. Anyway, I started the alum treatment two days ago. I still notice the bubble under my lip a little but it hasnt flared up huge like it used to. I dont know if this is just part of the cycle or if the alum is doing something. I will keep everyone posted. PS- I have tried the primrose oil and the saltwater treatments, neither of which did anything for me.

Just keep applying the alum every couple of hours and it should dry up the mucocele and allow the trapped saliva to seep out. Some people can do this twice a day, but for me, I had to do it every 2 hours because my mucocele was so impacted.

The alum won't hurt you, but make sure after you rinse it off, to dab liberally with alchohol or rinse with listerine - the sore will be open and you don't want it to get infected. And don't swallow the alum - it's very bitter!

Arlight, this is day 4 of the alum treatment. It looks so much better already. I have been applying the alum twice a day for about 15 minutes each time, then rinsing with listerine. I will continue to update.

Where do you by Alum?

Where do you by Alum?

-guest_guest

The spice section in the grocery store. Mine was 3.99.

Does it work better than the evening primrose method?

I didn't try Evening Primrose oil so I can't say. I didn't know where to find it!

Will this alum method work for mucoceles you've already attempted to pop/drain on your own? Basically I've gotten them before and just popped them on my own, and in a few days they go away and don't return for awhile (a year or more). Well I have one now that I've popped a few times (3-4x's) and it doesn't go away, just forms a painless, pimple like structure (slightly raised with a white tip) that when you pop a tiny, tiny bit of clear fluid comes out of. I'm wondering if I'm past the stage where the alum method could be useful. I'll probably give it a shot regardless. Unfortunately, I smoke as well. Would this impact the alum method's effectiveness? Thanks. I'

Yes alum will work if you've tried to pop it before. I popped/drained mine in a vicious cycle for about a month before trying alum. It would go down for a day, then swell up in a day, repeat. The reason popping doesn't work is that our mouths are so wet and resilient that the wound closes quickly. The mucocele doesn't have time to drain before sealing up again. The alum keeps the spot dry so that it doesn't seal up as quickly. I had to keep poking mine, in addition to using alum, every two hours to keep it open, and make sure it didn't seal up again. Remember to use lots of alcohol when poking it.

Thanks for the feedback. Well, today I bought the alum and tried it for my first time. Are these reactions normal and am I applying it correctly? It kind of stung putting the alum directly on the mucocele. I used a q-tip dipped in water, rolled it in the alum and applied to the lower lip area right on top of the mucocele. After I was done (10 mins), rinsed with Listerine for about 3-4 minutes. Now my lip in the area feels a bit numb, and it has that canker sore (crater) look to it. Though, to the touch with my tongue, while a tiny bit puffy, I can't feel where the mucocele was anymore and it doesn't sting to the touch (as I said more numb than anything), and before it was quite hard. Are these reactions normal? I'm planning on using it 2-3 times a day for about 5 days and see where I'm at. At that point, if the crater is still there, I think I'll apply Zilactin on it to protect the crater as it heals. Thanks for the help in advance.

Mine looke like a crater after apply Alum also.  It changes and improves each time you apply.  I tried to use Q-tips but it did not work as well as halfing a cotton ball for me.

Okay, so it's the end of day 2 of the alum procedure (2-3x's a day for about 5-10 mins each time, rinsing with Listerine afterwards). The crater has decreased on size. Doesn't feel hard or anything. Also the initial sting I was feeling with the alum has almost completely subsided. The only new thing I noticed was at the end of today a small, very, very small, crater-like white dot appeared NEXT to where I was treating my mucocele. I'm wondering if this could be the start of a canker sore, as with the attention in that area, plus I smoke and drink a lot of citrus products. It definitely doesn't look like another mucocele though as I know what those look like when they first appear. I'll keep things updated.

That sounds about right. In my experience, it almost looked like the mucocele had been cauterized. It turned white and sort of felt numb. No tingles, however. Once it started to heal, it did heal in a crater formation.