The swollen mouth is usually a sign of allergy and may appear immediately or up to 2 hours after taking some medicine or eating foods that have a tendency to cause allergic reactions, such as peanuts, shellfish, eggs, or soybeans.
However, the swollen mouth may also indicate other health problems, such as cold sores, dry and burned lips, mucocele, or other inflammation of the lips, and it is therefore recommended to consult a general practitioner whenever the swelling lasts for more than 3 days or immediately if there is difficulty breathing.
Spraying a pebble of ice on swollen lips may help deflate, but using allergy remedies may also be helpful. Check out the names of some allergy remedies.
Main causes of swelling in the mouth
The most common causes of swelling in the mouth are:
1. Allergy
Food allergy is the leading cause of swollen lips and lips and usually appears up to 2 hours after eating food, and may also be accompanied by coughing, feeling of something in the throat, difficulty breathing or redness in the face. However, other types of allergies can arise, being caused by lipstick, makeup, pills, home tooth whitening or plants.
- What to do: The treatment is usually done with the use of anti-allergic tablets, such as Cetirizine or Desloratadine, prescribed by the general practitioner. If there is too much trouble breathing, go to the emergency room immediately or call an ambulance by calling 192. Also, it is advisable to take an allergy test to see what kind of substances produce a reaction to keep it from coming back to emerge. In situations due to the use of lipstick, makeup or cosmetic products, it is also recommended not to use the same product again.
2. Herpes
Herpes infection in the mouth can cause a swelling in the lip, accompanied by small blisters, and a tingling sensation or numbness in the area. However, other infections, such as candidiasis, can also cause swelling of the mouth, especially when the lips are cracked, which increases the proliferation of many microorganisms, causing redness around the lips, fever and pain.
- What to do: It is necessary to consult a general practitioner to evaluate the problem and identify the microorganism that is causing the infection, to start treatment with ointments or tablets. In the case of herpes, it may be necessary to use ointments and antiviral tablets, such as acyclovir, for example. Anti-inflammatory or analgesic tablets, such as ibuprofen or paracetamol, for example, may also be used to relieve symptoms of pain and tenderness in the mouth. Understand the signs better and how to cure herpes of the mouth.
3. Dry or burnt lips from cold or sun
Burns from the sun, hot food, or acidic foods such as lemon or pineapple may cause swelling in the mouth that usually lasts for about 1 or 2 days, accompanied by pain, burning, and color changes on the spot. The same can happen when you are in extreme temperatures, in very cold places or with snow.
- What to do: To decrease the swelling and to pass moisturizing cream, cocoa butter or Vaseline when the lips are dry or burned. Here's how to make a great homemade moisturizer for dry lips.
4. Mucocele
The mucocele is a type of cyst that causes a small swelling in the mouth after biting the lips or after strokes, for example due to the accumulation of saliva inside the inflamed salivary gland.
- What to do: usually the mucocele disappears without any treatment after about 3 days, however, when it increases in size or delay to disappear it may be advised to go to the general practitioner to drain the cyst and accelerate the treatment.
Understand the causes and treatment of mucocele better.
5. Dental Abscess
Inflammation in the teeth, by caries or dental abscess, for example, causes swelling in the gums, which can extend to the lips. In this case, the person feels a lot of pain around the inflamed tooth, which can be accompanied by bleeding, bad smell in the mouth and even fever. The lips can also suffer inflammation caused by pimples, folliculitis or some trauma, such as by using the device, for example, that may arise suddenly.
- What to do : In the case of dental inflammation, the dentist should be sought for treatment of inflammation, with analgesic medications, antibiotics or, if necessary, a dental surgical procedure. To relieve inflammation on the lips, a compress should be made with warm water, and anti-inflammatory tablets, such as ibuprofen prescribed by the general practitioner, may be used to relieve pain and swelling. Learn more details of dental abscess treatment.
6. Fall, injury or injury
A fall can cause a mouth injury, which can also happen in a car accident, which can leave the mouth swollen for a few days until the injured tissues recover completely. Usually the site becomes very sore and the skin may have purple or reddish marks, sometimes the tooth can injure the lip causing a cut, which is very common in children who are learning to walk or are already running and playing ball with the friends.
- What to do: Cold compresses and teabags of cold chamomile tea can be applied directly over the swollen mouth, which can deflate the region in a few minutes. It should be used, 2 to 3 times a day.
7. Impetigo
Impetigo may also make the mouth swollen, but there is always a sore on the lip or near the nose. This is a common infection in childhood, and it passes easily from one child to another, and should always be evaluated by the pediatrician.
- What to do: You should go to the doctor so that he can confirm if it really is impetigo and indicate the use of an antibiotic ointment. In addition, it takes some important care not to peel off the bruise, to keep the area clean, to bathe daily, and to apply the remedy right away. Check out more care to cure impetigo faster.
Other causes
In addition to these, there are other causes of swelling in the mouth such as:
- Bug bite;
- Use of apparatus on teeth;
- Spicy foods;
- Pre-eclampsia in pregnancy;
- Piercing inflamed;
- Canker sores;
- Quelite;
- Oral cancer;
- Heart, liver or kidney failure.
It is therefore important to seek medical help if this symptom is present and can not identify the reason.
When to go to the doctor
It is also recommended to consult the emergency room whenever the swelling of the mouth:
- It suddenly appears and the mouth is very swollen, and also the tongue and throat, making it difficult to breathe;
- It takes more than 3 days to disappear;
- It arises with other symptoms like fever above 38ºC or difficulty to swallow;
- It is accompanied by swelling in the whole face or in other places of the body.
In these cases the doctor may clear the airway to facilitate breathing, and if necessary use medications, but it may also be useful to have blood tests and allergy tests to identify what has left the mouth swollen so that it does not happen again .
