Swollen Lips Blister: My upper lip is swollen and has clear blisters. It doesn't burn and barely tingles. What can be the causes of this and kindly suggest some remedies.

Most people sometimes experience a swelling in their lips and the reasons for such a swelling can be varied. Lip swellings can result from injuries to the lip, adverse effects of a drug or therapy of medications and in some cases, even badly aligned teeth. The swelling of lips are related to a host of factors and the different types of swellings are dependent upon varied reasons for occurrence. Some swollen lips are medically termed as:

• Myxedema, resulting due to hypothyroidism,
• Quincke's edema, which is recurrent large confined areas of hypodermic edema; onset is sudden and it disappears within 24 hours; seen mainly in young women, often as an allergic reaction to food or drugs,
• Acromegalia, which is the enlargement of limbs and face; often accompanied by headache and muscle pain and emotional disturbances; caused by overproduction of growth hormone by the anterior pituitary gland,
• Glucagonoma
• Mucopolysaccharidosis, are genetic disorders involving a defect in the metabolism of mucopolysaccharidosis, resulting in greater than normal levels of mucopolysaccharides in tissues.

Gross swelling of the lips could also be due to allergic reactions in the body or due to environmental elements such as overexposure to intense heat or cold. The allergic reactions could likely be due to hypersensitivity to a particular kind of food or drink. In most equatorial countries, especially in the desert regions, intense heat and radiation from the sun may cause impairment to the lips, causing them to swell up. Repeated lip inflammation due to intense heat and sun exposure can lead to reddening of the lips and heighten the incidence of skin cancer.

Specific swelling of the upper lip can also point out to potential stomach troubles, such as pyrosis, hyperacidity, and ulcerations occurring due to continual consumption of sugary foods, tea and coffee, spices, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, processed and refined flour, white potatoes and other woody plants etc. Under normal circumstances, the sphincter muscle at the stomach is closed when food is being digested in the stomach. During heartburn or stomach disorders, the contents of the stomach, such as the stomach acid, are retched into the esophagus, resulting in a burning sensation in the chest after a meal.

In most cases, lip swellings can be healed with the help of topical application of anti-inflammatory medications or ointments like corticosteroids mandated by your doctor. If the swelling has been ongoing for more than a period of seven days and more, you would do well to check with your doctor, to rule out other disorders.

answered by G M

Swelling of the lips occurs due to a number of reasons, and is sometimes accompanied by cracking and bleeding the lips. It can be a rather uncomfortable and painful condition. Usually swelling of lips occurs as an allergic reaction and in this case it goes away naturally or by using over the counter ointments easily available at all pharmacies. In order to speed the healing process it is important to first diagnose the reason for the swelling by consulting a doctor and pinpointing the exact cause. If it is due to an allergy, you should immediately remove the allergen from your environment. Often it occurs due to an allergy from something as seemingly innocuous as the pillow or mattress you use or from some food product or medication you are consuming. Swollen lips can also be a symptom of a condition known as Acromegaly or Muccopolysacharidosis, or a viral infection which also leads to blisters on the lips. Swollen lips accompanied by blisters that fill with a clear liquid are caused by the Herpes Simplex Virus. Sometimes it is also a sign of stomach disorders such as heartburn, acidity and ulcers due to excessive consumption of sugar, caffeine, spices, alcohol, soft drinks and refined flour. In this case you should avoid consuming these food products and watch your diet carefully, sticking to a healthy balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water through out the day to keep your body and thus your lips well hydrated.

If you are suffering from swollen lips with blisters, you should take care not to touch or scratch the lips to avoid further infections. You can apply ice on your lips to reduce the swelling and to prevent the blisters from spreading further on the lips and into the mouth. If you have cold sores on your lips, you can hasten the healing process by keeping your lips well hydrated with a lip balm which moisturizes the lips. Aloe Vera gel can be used as a natural lip balm and should be applied on the lips regularly to soothe the swelling and keep the sores moisturized to prevent them from cracking. Apart from this you should drink plenty of green tea since it contains natural anti-oxidants which are good for the health in general and speed up the healing process. Alternately you can apply a warm, wet green tea bag on your lips for around half an hour every day to soothe the irritation and draw out the toxins from the sores.

answered by G M