Terrified... pain & swelling on lip... oral cancer fears

[Bulan77]

I'm feeling panicked for the first time in a long time. I woke up this morning and felt swelling on a part of my lip that I've had trouble with for a few years.

In 2011 I developed a bad habit of biting that part of my lips during the winter, as the skin was dry and chapped. This habit continued over the next winter. During the winter of 2013 I tried hard to stop biting, and was mostly successful, but by this point I was getting calluses on that spot. Even this year, all year, the calluses have come up, gotten flaky, and fallen off. I've also had aching pain in that area, inside the lip. And now the swelling. It's hard to see, but I can feel it, and it feels different in that area too, the same feeling you get with a cold sore.

I told my dermatologist and dentist about the biting habit, the calluses, and the aching pain in that area, but neither thought anything of it. This morning I happen to have a routine cleaning scheduled with my dentist, so I'll mention this to her. I'm terrified it's cancer.

Does anyone know of a case where lip biting became a health problem, like cancer? Should I ask my dentist to take a biopsy? How should I handle this? Any and all advice and reassurance is appreciated!!

 

[Bulan77]

I don't bite it any more, except when those calluses begin to flake... It's hard not to bite it instinctively, and I try to bite only the dead skin that's already detached. But when that callous is removed, it leaves a tender spot exposed which sometimes aches...

I just asked my brother to look at it, and he asked if I had a cold sore, b/c he saw a small amount of swelling. And when I looked at it again, it seemed to be slightly darker under the dry skin. ...I'm quite afraid.

 

[DaisyDay]

It's late now, but I've never heard that physical trauma caused cancer. Other problems, sure, the most likely being an infection.

Are you ok now?

 

[Waterwerx]

It's late now, but I've never heard that physical trauma caused cancer. Other problems, sure, the most likely being an infection.

Are you ok now?

Theoretically, repeated physical damage can. Some examples of it would be high traffic areas such as the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, small intestine, large intestine, etc. This is why, for example, individuals that suffer from acid reflux are at a greater risk for esophageal cancer.

 

[jargew]

Hi,

Lip biting will not cause cancer.
But, must should see a doctor about this.
Also, you may want to seek help (or discuss here) regarding your lip biting.
Why are you biting your lip? Stress? Depression?
This may be a more serious issue.

 

[Grafted In]

If the pain is a continuous strong ache, it may be a cankor sore begining to form. This is a form of herpes virus. I used to get them on the inside of my lips and gums. They will go away eventually....if in fact that is what you have. When I used to get them that is how I knew one was coming on. During the active phase the pain is very similar to a bad toothache. Mine would form a hole that was white at the bottom.
Assuming my guess is right...and it's simply a guess based on personal experience...a change in diet can (and in my case does) prevent them from reaccurring.
I also have a habit of biting my lips and in recent years developed a dark bump below the skinline. I had it looked at and was assured it was nothing to be concerned about.
However, that does not nessecarily mean you should disregard it. I'd have it checked out to be sure.

 

[Radrook]

My Experience has been this:

I began to develop dry skin on my lip which I regularly bit off but it grew back in several days. I went to a dermatologist and after ta biopsy was told that it was a precancerous cell condition. He began treating the affected area with frozen nitrogen in order to kill the precancerous cells and have new normal cells replace them. The flesh would turn white from the cold and swell up and feel numb. Then the dead cells would slough off in a few days. He would take a look at the area and claim that he saw normal cells emerging and repeat the process.

At one point after such treatment the area seemed to become foul smelling and dead skin was scraped off with my nail. He later exclaimed that it had become infected. I really saw no progress so I asked what other method might be used.

He explained that using acid instead of frozen or liquid nitrogen was more efficient but that it tended to scar. I subjected myself to that treatment, saw scarring but very little reduction of the callous-like dry skin regeneration.

I asked what other treatment he had available and he said cauterization via heat. I subjected myself to that painful treatment and the scarring was worse but the callous-like growth returned.

At that point I asked him to stop since all I was getting was scarring and lumpy lips from repeated painful biopsies and asked what else he had in his arsenal. He calmly said that if I wanted he could schedule me to have the offending part of my lip removed.

I said I would consider it. Went to get a second opinion about the suggested surgery. The doctors seemed baffled by the whole thing and was told that all that treatment had been unnecessary. One of them warned me that such a procedure could result in deformation. They also told me that they detected no medical reason to be treating my lip that way in the first place. So decided I not to return to the good dermatologist and just live with the dry skin he had declared precancerous. It's been decades since I didn't develop cancer and the condition is still with me albeit far less active.