How did I get a fat lip?

June 22, 2007 8:24 AM

Last night I was at a party and drank too much wine. When I got home I puked and went to bed. Today I woke up with a fat lip. What happened and is it doctor-visit-worthy?

My best guess is that I hit my mouth on something and don't remember it. (I remember everything else about the evening, though, so you think I'd recall that.) But it's not bruised at all, and no other part of my face hurts. Plus there would be dried blood if I'd gotten hit - my gums sometimes bleed from normal brushing, so a whack in the face would definitely produce blood. It doesn't hurt, even when touched, but I can feel the pressure of the swelling on my teeth. Only my upper lip on one side is noticeably swollen. My gum directly under that is a little tender. My teeth are not at all affected.

I've never been hit in the face so I don't know how it would feel or look.

I'm female, 32, and I am not a smoker or drug user.

(Note: Drinking that much is a very rare occurence so my question is not "do I have a drinking problem?")

posted by desjardins to health & fitness (19 comments total)

A couple other things - the swelling has increased in the few hours I've been awake. Also, it looks exactly like when your dentist numbs your lip - but it doesn't feel numb.
posted by desjardins at 8:26 AM on June 22, 2007

Bug bite?
posted by amro at 8:26 AM on June 22, 2007

Very mild sulfites allergy?
posted by mkultra at 8:34 AM on June 22, 2007

This is the funniest AskMe question I have ever seen. "Dear Metafilter... whoa, what did I do last night? You guys? Any of you guys know? Aw, jeez, wow, ha ha, I guess I shouldn't a had that fifth of tequila. Fuck."

Seriously, you probably just banged your lip on a glass while hoisting it too fast, or something. Give it a couple of days before you start to worry.
posted by Greg Nog at 8:36 AM on June 22, 2007 [22 favorites has favorites]

I second the bug bite. I recently did the something similar(while drunk, tripped taking my shoes off and bashed my lip) but there was a lot of bruising on the inside of my fat lip in the morning. So I doubt it was an impact. I'd give it a day and see if it goes away on its own, and then get it checked out if it doesn't.
posted by emd3737 at 8:38 AM on June 22, 2007

This is just not my day. It didn't occur to me to look on the inside of my lip. There IS bruising there.

I'm not usually this ditzy, really.

And Greg, it would have been funnier if I'd posted a question while still drunk.
posted by desjardins at 8:49 AM on June 22, 2007

Yep, you definitely bashed it on something, ya lush :)

Ice it. The swelling will go away in a day or two, but the bruising may linger for a while.
posted by emd3737 at 8:56 AM on June 22, 2007

You reach the point of being semi-impervious to pain far before you reach the point of actually not remembering events. I wouldn't worry about it.
posted by dagnyscott at 9:08 AM on June 22, 2007

Ahh yes. Unknown bruises after a night of drinking. Good times! Makes me miss college.

You didn't perhaps slam your face down on the porcelain thrown did you?
posted by Big_B at 9:13 AM on June 22, 2007

UPB is the culprit, I'm afraid.

(Unidentified Party Bruise)
posted by tristeza at 9:25 AM on June 22, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

UPB is the culprit, I'm afraid.

(Unidentified Party Bruise)

We call it RDI - random drinking injury. You dont have to party to drink ;)
posted by missmagenta at 9:39 AM on June 22, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ice it and be glad it was only your lip.

Also keep in mind that some bruises may not show up until later today... I bet you'll be having a couple more WTF, how did that happen? moments.
posted by devilsbrigade at 9:44 AM on June 22, 2007

You've just experienced a blackout.
posted by plokent at 10:14 AM on June 22, 2007

[a few comments removed; at least try to answer the question while you're riffing, please]
posted by cortex at 10:19 AM on June 22, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I think it's entirely possible you suffered no blow, but merely slept so deeply in your stupefaction that you didn't move very much, and the fat lip and bruising are due to sleeping all night with that part of your face driven into the pillow.
posted by jamjam at 10:45 AM on June 22, 2007

I vote for the sulfites allergy. I have had this happen a few times, sometimes with my lips, sometimes my tongue/roof of mouth. I don't even have to have had that much to drink -- it's always red wine, and always from a fairly dry red wine at that. Past that, it doesn't follow any set pattern.

I was a big party girl in college, and this never happened. I drink moderately as an adult, so when it first happened I couldn't figure out why, with all my past drinking experiencing, it was only now that I had this weird alcohol reaction. Wouldn't it have shown up after one of my many wild bashes, if it were an allergy?

That's how I figured out it was sulfites from certain red wines. I wasn't drinking anything even close to "fairly complex, with hints of plum notes, an oaky undertone, and a chocolate finish" in college.

It will be ok in a day or so.
posted by purplegenie at 10:56 AM on June 22, 2007

From the wikipedia article linked above:

Hence, in order to prevent a blackout, alcohol should not be consumed in large gulps, and should most likely not be drunk on an empty stomach.

Oops.

Also, this is why I don't use my real name here.
posted by desjardins at 11:47 AM on June 22, 2007

How about dehydration? A small scratch (like if you bit your lip) combined with sleeping dehydration always makes my lip swell up like no tomorrow. Instead of ice, fill a cup to the brim with chilled water and just stick your lip in it. Drink some of it every now and then, too, and swish it around inside your lip.
posted by anaelith at 5:07 PM on June 22, 2007

Well, it's embarrassing, but one time after a night out drinking with old friends I managed to vomit to the point that I gave myself a black eye. A full on black eye, too -- it looked like I had been punched in the face, hard. Most likely just the force from the vomiting broke a few blood vessels; it's possible that your lip could have suffered a similar fate.
posted by RobotAdam at 8:46 PM on June 22, 2007