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6 Possible Reasons for Swollen Lips

By March 26, 2021 - 2:45am

Some people experience lip swelling after eating a particular food, while others wake up to swollen lips on some mornings without knowing the cause of it. Somebody can have swollen lips due to medical conditions.

Sometimes swollen lips can be extremely painful and inconvenient. Your lips can enlarge due to different causes. If lip enlargement is provoked by an injury or a minor cause, it’s called acute lip swelling. When a more serious condition is a root cause of your swollen lips, it’s called chronic lip swelling. Let’s look at some of the causes behind both types of lip swelling:

1. Infections
Any type of infection including bacterial, viral, and fungal can make your lips swell up. If the skin of the lips gets too dry and cracked, it can easily get infected. This, in turn, might contribute to pain, redness, and even swelling. If you have any inflammatory skin condition or an infection, these things can also cause lips to swell up.

An infection called a cold sore (also known as the herpes simplex virus infection), is characterized by a blister on the lips, which can provoke swelling.

2. Mucoceles
A cyst that forms due to frequently biting the lips, or from an injury, is called a mucocele. Lip biting or injury can damage the salivary gland, where the liquid in the gland gets collected under the skin causing a bump. This gives the lips a swollen appearance.

3. Injuries
If you’ve accidentally placed your lips on a too hot steel glass or cup, had a fall, and bruised your lips, or even been hit on or near your mouth, your lips will likely swell up. This lip swelling usually disappears faster when using a cold pack or some anti-bruising or anti-swelling cream.

4. Certain conditions
Certain conditions like Ascher syndrome and some inflammatory disorders that are fairly rare, can make lips swell. All of these conditions require expert and specialized medical attention. A condition that can provoke swollen bumps on the upper lip is called granulomatous cheilitis.

The Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome affects the upper lip and provokes edema. The lower lip tends to swell due to a condition called cheilitis glandularis. It affects men more than women. It is also related to lip cancer.

5. Medications
There are certain medications that can contribute to lip swelling as an allergic reaction. The presence of any chemical you might be allergic to and a few antibiotics such as penicillin, are known to make the lips swell. Side effects of certain drugs might also trigger swelling in your lips.

6. Allergies
Certain foods can provoke an allergic reaction in some people, resulting in swollen lips. This condition is also called oral allergy syndrome. It’s caused by some foods and normally, the swelling goes away on its own in some time.

Foods that people are allergic to and which can cause lip swelling include: gluten-containing foods, tamarind, eggs, prawns, shellfish, soybean, and peanuts. Other nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, or hazelnuts can also cause lips to swell up.

Medical Treatments for Lip Swelling
Depending on the root cause of your lip swelling, you might need medical treatment. If you have Ascher syndrome, your doctor may recommend lip reduction surgery. If your swelling is caused by Angioedema, epinephrine is usually recommended.

If an inflammatory condition is the root cause of your swelling, your healthcare provider might recommend an anti-inflammatory medication that doesn’t contain steroids. In the case of an injury, the doctor might clean and bandage your wound. If your lip swelling is mild and occasional, it may not require medical treatment and will go away on its own.

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