Swollen Upper Lip

Swelling in the upper lip is a common occurrence and all of us must have gone through it at least once in life. The lips are the most prominent features of your face. As the upper lip swells up, it is bound to affect your look as well as personality.

However, the extent of trouble caused by this condition largely depends on the size of the swollen lip. When it is severe, you find it difficult to carry out simple tasks like eating and talking. The condition becomes even worse, if it is accompanied by symptoms like bleeding and pain.

Lips are very delicate and are prone to injury. Any big or small injury like a punch on the mouth, or a bad fall on the face, or biting of the lip while eating can trigger swelling on the upper lip. It can happen due to an allergic reaction.

Food allergies often give swollen lips, but exposure to some allergens in your surroundings can also be responsible for this. Infections like oral herpes lead to formation of blisters in and around the mouth and inflammation occurs in the area. This can be a sign of nutritional deficiency, particularly that of vitamin B.

In such cases, the swelling is usually found at the corners of the lips. Acromegaly is a problem where lumps are formed on the lip and it looks swollen. It also makes the lip scaly and discolored. Bug stings, side effects of medicine, skin infections, sunburn; are the other possible causes of swelling in the upper lip.

When you discover a bump on the upper lip, start applying ice over it as soon as possible. However, the ice should not come in direct contact with the skin. Take a plastic bag, fill it up with ice cubes, wrap up the bag with a towel and then place it on the lips for 10 minutes. After that, take a break for 15 minutes and apply it all over again. A bag of frozen peas can also be used for the same purpose.

If bleeding occurs from the swollen lip, then medical attention is a must. To stop the bleeding, an ointment is applied; and in serious injuries stitching is required. An allergic reaction has to be controlled with antihistamine medicines.

Excessive swelling in the lip is brought down with the help of oral corticosteroids. Doctors will advise you to avoid the specific allergen to prevent the recurrence of such reactions. Vitamin deficiency is treated with correct dosage of vitamin supplements.

When it is caused due to some other health condition, treatments are given accordingly in order to get rid of the lip swelling.

There are some effective home remedies to treat a swollen upper lip caused by minor injuries. Prepare a mixture with Fuller's Earth, turmeric powder and water and apply the thick paste on the inflamed part of the lip. Wait for a few minutes so that the paste dries up. Then brush off the crust of the paste from the lips.

The cooling properties of the Fuller's earth has a soothing effect on the pain. At the same time, the medicinal properties of turmeric and Fuller's earth will heal up the injury. You can also apply warm tea bag to reduce the swelling.

Put a tea bag in a cup of warm water. Take it out after a few minutes and let the bag cool down a bit. Then place it on the lip for some time. It has to be repeated several times before you can get relief from the inflammation.

You may feel a strong urge to lick the upper lip when it is in a swollen state, but you must avoid that as it can aggravate the problem. To prevent any further inflammation, you must apply a waxy lip balm and drink plenty of water to keep the lips moist. Also, include a lot of vitamin C in your diet to speed up the healing process.