I am joining the Mucocele gang - is this really one?
I think I have one. It has been looked at by doctors and a dentist and still sometimes I wonder if it is one or not. Mine does not get smaller and bigger - in fact if anything it gets a little bigger with time. It has got a little bigger even since these photos were taken. I have had it for over two months now and it is driving me insane. I have become obsessed with it and keep looking at it in the mirror. It is not too visible but I feel it is enormous. I am so grateful for this forum. Like many of you, I have been worrying about it being something like oral cancer. Also I cannot stop rubbing my teeth on it, really I cannot resist I find it so hard to just ignore it. I am waiting on a referral to see a specialist who will confirm it is a mucocele (the dentist said she was 99.9% it was one but she was very young so preferred to refer me) and then we can discuss removal options. In England all this is free which is great but it takes months and months of waiting and I am not patient for that kind of thing. I woke up one morning and this thing was there. I don't recall biting my lip or anything. A couple of weeks ago, I drank a very hot coffee and burnt it - it peeled and my lip got infected. It was very swollen and I had to take antibiotics. I would advise being careful not to fiddle with it too much. I think the constant biting on it has also created white round dots on it. Anyway what do you think of my monster? What I find confusing is that not all mucoceles look the same: some seem to be superficial whereas mine is quite deep and does not burst or empty its contents.
Thanks a lot Mr Kadavy your forum is so useful. I have tried all the home remedies but nothing works for me.
Thanks for listening to my long rant.
Lucie
Hi Lucie, welcome to the board! Not that I'm an expert, but I'd say that's a mucocele. Mine looked like yours after a month or so, and it definitely hurt after eating/drinking anything hot. It's hard not to obsess over it, it's always there and feels so unnatural. And unfortunately, the monster isn't going anywhere.
That's really awesome it's all free! (I wish the US had universal health care, but that rant would have to go to another message board). I'm sorry for the wait you have to go through, how long are you expecting to wait to have the suspected mucocele removed? I really hope things go your way!
Hi – this is my first post, but this forum is also where I figured out that I had a mucocele & what I needed to do about it. Your bump looks a lot like my mucocele - same size and position, although I got mine by biting my lip repeatedly - so I just thought I’d let you know that I got mine removed by an oral surgeon (cut off with a good-old-fashioned scalpel) and it went great. The procedure took maybe 10 minutes. Recovery kind of sucked for about 24 hours, but after that it was no big deal. I have a tiny scar but now, about five months later, no one can see it even when I pull my lip out and point at it. So I wish you the best of luck, but I don’t think you’ll need it – you should be just fine! Hang in there.
Hello my muco-friends,
It is so nice not to feel alone in this! I know it's no big deal but I have been obsessing so much and it feels nobody understands me! I am constantly playing with it as it rubs against my upper lip and it feels different all the time in my lip but overall it has grown I think . I also have to be careful with hot drinks as I don't want it to get infected again. Apart from that, it doesn't hurt so really I should not complain but well... it got to the point where I had enough. I went to the dentist on my Friday and guess what they lost my referral letter to see a specialist. So I was told I had to start the whole process all over again. In England it takes you about 12 weeks to see a specialist who will look at your lump and then another 12 weeks maybe to get it removed so it could be many many months living with the mucous "twin". So being impulsive I have done something crazy: I will dip into my savings and pay for it privately which will be very expensive but at least in a couple of weeks I should be free of it! The other annoying thing is that I keep biting myself at the back of my mouth because the mucocele probably interferes with eating. Anyway, k_e thank you so much for your reassuring words about surgery. I should find out soon when it takes place.
The guy who created this forum is a hero as there really isn't much to reassure you online when you look for lumps in lips! Have you got any pics of your mucoceles before they died in a souvenir album or something? Would be curious to see them :)
Thanks again for your replies it feels good to talk to other people who experienced this!
Yeah, I too wound up paying for the removal out-of-pocket, since the surgeon I chose didn’t take my health insurance – however, I had heard that he was one of the best, so I thought it was better than risking an ugly scar with a less experienced surgeon. And now I feel like I should point out that not all surgeries go as flawlessly as mine – if you’ve been poking around this forum you know there are some horror stories out there. I think the key is to find an oral surgeon with a lot of experience – see if you can get a recommendation from someone, maybe a dentist who's been in practice longer than yours. But I think you’re probably wise to get it done sooner rather than later – the longer you have it the more likely you are to bite it, and I’m not sure but I think repeated biting could make it worse/more of a problem to remove. And I know exactly what you’re saying about obsessing over it – I think everyone here does – and I know I felt incredibly relieved when mine was gone – I could finally focus on other things again!
Thanks so much k_e - the surgery is scaring me a little and I did read the horror stories. I did just like you I chose the most experienced surgeon I could find he has been doing this for years and years so fingers crossed my mucocele won't intimidate him although I have been quite bad with the nibbling at it and it has got some white marks on it because of that. I will celebrate when it is gone and hope it won't come back! Will keep you posted... it is hard to focus on other things, you describe the situation really well. And yet most people don't notice or see it it is quite hidden...
