Is it possible to get a pimple actually IN your lip?

April 14, 2006 12:25 PM

I'm just saying this right now, this is a little disgusting. Stop reading now if that's an issue. I just got one one those maginfying shaving mirrors. For the first time I notice something: a white spot (like pinhead sized) in approximately the middle of my lip and kinda far down. I have no idea how long it's been there. Coulda been there for years. I left it alone for a week or two. It didn't get bigger but it didn't get smaller either. So I squeezed it. This being my lip and not a rough patch of skin...well it hurt like hell. I was going to stop. But then, it came to the top, so I figured I'd give it one more pinch. Boom. It pops. Like a pimple. Loose white fluid comes out. The thing closes up an hour later and then it's like it didn't happen. What the heck just happened here?
posted by rileyray3000 to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

Um, you had a pimple on your lip? It happens. It hurts, probably because the skin is thicker and more sensitive on your lip.
posted by Mid at 12:40 PM on April 14, 2006

It sounds like milia (a milium?). Here's a link to an image (though not on the lip), and here's a link to a description. Per the description, they can be found on the gums or roof of mouth, so I think the lip might be possible. They're harmless, so no worries.
posted by penchant at 12:44 PM on April 14, 2006

IANAD (yet), but I'd say it could be just a pimple. Acne is caused by the build up of sebum and subsequent bacterial infection/colonization and inflammation in sebaceous glands. There are a lot of these glands on your face and back, and they're also found on your lips. So it sounds to me (albeit, after my one and only week of derm lectures) that you could have had a whitehead (closed comedone) on your lip, similar to the type you'd get anywhere else on your face.
posted by flying kumquat at 12:46 PM on April 14, 2006

I've had a similar pimple on my lip twice in my life that I recall, and the 2nd time was just was last week. My experience was identical to yours, including the extreme pain, but I popped mine as soon as I noticed it. I'm sure they're just regular zits, and the fluid is just ordinary zit goo. Any differences from other facial zits I just attribute to the different skin qualities around the lips.
posted by chudmonkey at 1:14 PM on April 14, 2006

PS, I called mine a "limple", which my gf found profoundly disturbing for some reason.
posted by chudmonkey at 1:14 PM on April 14, 2006

Don't pop - slit with an Xacto
posted by A189Nut at 4:09 PM on April 14, 2006

could have been some sort of cyst. Harmless, and now that it's gone....good!
posted by annieb at 5:19 PM on April 14, 2006

This sounds like a comedo. Nothing to worry about.

Never take a blade to your own face, unless you want an ugly scar.
posted by ikkyu2 at 5:20 PM on April 14, 2006

What about a Fordyce's spot?
posted by booksandlibretti at 3:20 PM on April 15, 2006