Should I get surgery in a week?

Hi;

I just wanted to tell you it's now been two weeks since my surgery and things are getting better.  My lip has lost a bit of fullness, and i do have a scar, and yes, i now have mucocele growing on each side of my incisions site. 

I had mine removed by an oral maxofacial surgeon, and didn't ask near enough questions. 

Seriously, if you're going to have it removed, and you are worried about your appearance, find someone who knows what the heck they are doing... and also cares about your appearance.

I went and had my incision site looked at by a vascualar surgeon on Monday.  He actually said that he would have done it differently... great.  He also said, it will change, for the good or better over a year, as that is what lips do.  Not a plastic surgeon in the world will do anything with it until the year is up.

If you have any questions, i would answer any of them. 

Elle

Well I kept up with the salt rubs, rubbing faithfully every 2 hours, then rinsing with listerine. After a few days of doing this, the mucocele almost vanished. I figured the "trick" was to keep the wound open by exfoliating with the salt, and then it couldn't fill with fluid. But eventually, no matter how much I rubbed, it got to a point where it started to heal and close. As soon as the skin closed over it started to fill with fluid again in a matter of HOURS. At this point I see no other option other than removal. I have kept my appointment for 4 days from now. All I can do is hope that I am one of the small percentage that is not disfigured, but my chances of that seem small. I will post my results after surgery.

You may want to try the alum trick. I was at the end of my rope and it worked perfectly. Just put alum on it for about 15 minutes or so (hold your lip out so it stays dry). Then rinse with Listerine. You can run your tongue over the area to keep it clean. I was able to get rid of the infected tissue all the way down to the salivary gland. Then the area grew in with new skin. It's been more than a month without any issues (after having a mucocele there for more than a month).

Where do I get alum? I'm not sure I have time for it to work, since surgery is in 4 days.

Well I did try the alum for one day, and it cauterized the top skin like that wart remover stuff, and it did keep it from getting any bigger (like it's dried out or something.) I think I will stop using it until my appointment,because I don't want my doctor yelling at me or telling me "you shouldn't have done that." etc etc. Although the alum DID make the mucocele a lot smaller. Maybe that means it will leave a smaller scar when he takes it out. If they keep coming back, I will try the alum first before getting it removed. You  just have to be careful not to get it on any surrounding skin because it will turn that skin white. It isn't painful at all though.

Good luck with surgery. Can you post how it goes? I am a two weekds post op now, and the incision site is starting to flatten. I can feel each scar tissue from the stitch, it rubs on my bottom left front tooth. I have a mucocele forming on each side of the incision. my lip bottom left is much thinner and looks almost like it's pulled. You should ask the surgeon how they are planning to remove it, ask questions aabout the type of incision, the amount of stitches, whether it will be vvertical or horizontal. You want horizontal i'm told, although that is hwhat mine is, and it actually seems to pucker.

I did go to the surgeon again, and he said he may have compromised more salivary ducts and it would only be a small procedure to take those out..


eeek!

Elle

Elle, I am going to ask a bunch of questions, and see if he thinks it should be removed since it shrank. I will ask about numbness, deformity, chance of recurrance and all of that. If I don't like what he says, I guess I have the option of walking out. I could also call them today and reschedule for a couple of weeks from now. I wish I had more time with the alum.

I just rescheduled surgery from Nov 16 to Dec 7. Something was telling me to put it off until after Thanksgiving. I do want to be able to eat, after all. Just hope that it stays low and doesn't swell up. I'll keep at it with the alum and that will give me time to see if it actually works. Right now it's shrunken again. It has been going back and forth but the alum seems to have helped a great deal after two applications. Just hope there are no lasting effects. I'll keep everyone posted. It's hard to tell because in the past it has shrunk and almost gone away, only to swell up in an hour or two.

Hi;

Yes, that is what mine would do. Some days i would think it would almost be gone,.. and then it would be huge the next day. Try not to pick it.. the surgeon says this can create more..

I am starting to feel my lip a bit now... the scar is yucky, but I'm happy, cause i think it could have been worse.

Keep me posted!
Elle

Still doing the alum. I think I have a cluster of mucoceles going on here. It ate through the skin of my first one and went away in just one day. But I could see a tiny white dot inside the surfaced one, so I think there was another one in there waiting to surface. It has started to swell, but I don't think the alum is doing anything because it's still under the surface. I say "eat through" but that makes it sound gruesome. It isn't really. There was no blood or anything, just white skin like a blister. I have been putting alum on several times a day, but it doesn't seem to do anything if it hasn't surfaced. I'm not sure if the alum is making it surface quicker but I don't think so. I think it ate through the first one so quickly because the skin was much thinner and the second one is deeper. I'm anxious to post something that's actually constructive, but nothing has happened yet other than the first one going away.

where did you find the alum. Is is like a spice?

My incision (three weeks post op), still hurts when i run my tongue over it, or when my tooth skims over it. I am still numb, and can't find my lower lip to my coffee cup. I can feel my finger running over my lip slightly.

The pucker looks like it will stay unless lips are known to fill in again after tissue loss... does anyone know?

I have two more small mucocele's forming on each side of the incision. Going to head back to the surgeon to get him to take a third look.

Elle

I got it in the spice section in the grocery store. It doesn't seem to be working anymore though. The first time I put it on it caused the skin to dry up like a blister and the mucocele shrunk to almost nothing. But after day 2 it came back and alum hasn't done anything. I put it on very frequently but nothing happens, it's just like putting water on it. Thinking about draining it (again) then applying alum. Maybe it will work when the wound is open. I don't know what to think anymore. I've tried everything other than evening primrose, but that sounds like a crock to me!

Elle....the numbness may take a while to go away....one I had removed from inside my lip, the numbness took a long time to fade, but it did get better slowly.

When I had another one removed back near my tonsil on the soft palate, a new mucocele did pop up right near the incision, but then it went away and didn't come back, so good luck.

thank you bigjohnny.

Well, It's three and a half weeks post op. The incision site looks great now.. but a mucocele on each side of the stitches.. lol... wow, bummer. Uhm.... when he stitched me he took alot of tissue, so he had to sew me up kinda wonky. I do have what i say looks like a pucker. Anyone knows if the lip fills in again? At all? I can honestly say, I used to have great lips, and now they are so ugly.

Elle

I've been doing the alum like clockwork twice a day for 15 minutes, for at least a week now. The mucocele seems to be on a schedule of swelling and shrinking every 3-4 days. My verdict on the alum is that it doesn't help any more than poking it with a needle and draining. Either way it still comes back and seems not to do any good. Although it is less painful than poking with a needle. After a few days when it does swell up again, the alum does a good job of shrinking it right away and drying it out. But it always comes back. Looks like I'm still going to have to go through with getting it removed. My guess is that on those it does work for, along with listerine, draining it, or primrose oil - it is a placebo affect and theirs would have gone away anyway. Then there are some of us who are unlucky and ours just don't go away no matter what. That is my opinion after dealing with this monstrosity from August - November. Surgery is still scheduled for Dec. 7.

Make sure you ask alot of questions before hand. Find out how much tissue he plans on taking, and how he will sew it up. Ask if you will be left with a pucker, or if he could do the incision lower so that it won't show like mine does. My tooth runs over the scar tissue, and it's very painful, plus you can see the scar tissue thru my skin.

See my latest news here.

I wanted to add my experience as well to others. I have done a lot of research and concluded that it was mucocele that I had. Had it for 2 months. Tried everything, canker sore solutions, ambesol, salt water, kosher salt, ice, ...brushing teeth more often, flossing...it seemed to go down then back up. Until I came across a forum that told me to stay away from tartar control toothpastes and an ingredient that most all tooth pastes have called SLS sodium lauryl sulfite. Its actually an inactive ingredient in tooth pastes. Do your research in this.... Anyway I went to the drugstore and found what seems to be the only toothpaste that doesn't have SLS called Biotene. Let me tell you after using that I noticed immediate relief and improvement. I also purchased the biotene mouth wash. Its actually for dry mouth and since mucocele has to do with salivary gland issues it makes sense why this toothpaste works. I have to say now after a week of using this product it has gone away on its own....it started to drain on its own..I just kept my mouth clean through out the whole process. I also ate light foods....yogurts, soups....I now have my normal bottom lip back and can kiss my girlfriend passionately again. If you have this condition, I encourage you to use this toothpaste. I also drank a lot of water through out the day and flossed and brushed with the new toothpaste after every meal. I hope this will help someone out there that has been searching on this topic and how to get rid of it without surgery. I know it can be stressful. thank you!

Hello Mucocele,

I am with you on that tartar control toothpaste.  I had a mucocele back it July 2009.  I got married in May 2009.  I was trying to beef up my smile so I was using a lot of toothpaste with a lot of crap in it like tartar control.  My dentist told me to try to avoid using toothpaste with a buch of ingredients because this can cause mucoceles.  I had a superficial mucocele, which was located at the roof of my mouth on the left side.  I only use regular toothpaste now.  I have tried products by Biotene.  I've tried the mouthwash and my dentist gave me a sample of Biotene gum.  It's supposed to help you with drymouth, although i don't have that problem, but hey, it was a free sample.  Glad to hear everything is better for you!

~~RGL
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