Hello Ryan,

If you shave, it might be a "razor" bump with an infected hair follicle. It may also be a clogged oil gland with a secondary bacterial infection causing the pus. Since you see pus, then most likely it is a bacterial infection that you can try treating by applying warm compresses (not hot such that it burns the tender skin on the lips) and put an antibiotic ointment on it such as Neosporin. But you want to get the pus out, so it may be necessary to go to the dermatologist if the skin over the pus is "tough" and the pus will not ooze out with the warm compresses. Meanwhile do not shave in the area and always use sun block - zinc oxide is the best. You if have further questions, just ask.

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Warmest regards,

vj

Hi,

No I was not able to see it. You can forward it to my regular email address for me to take a look vjobe.dc@gmail.com, but we will need to continue to communicate through this website.

Yes, the lips are very "oily".

Thanks and I will let you know as soon as I receive the picture.

With warm regards,

vj

Hello,

I got your images, but I cannot ascertain whether it looks infected or not or whether it is just white in coloring as though the lip's red pigment is "washed out". It is not uncommon to get what appears to be a little painless blister in the corners of the mouth that go away in a few days on occasion. I am not sure what they are, but when I get them, it seems to be a function of some mild trauma to my lip usually following my lips being really dry due to wind or sun. However what I have looks like clear fluid, not white pus and it does not break open, as the skin covering it is thick. You would actually expect an infection to cause tenderness, although a very superficial one might be very mildly so. If you have dry lips frequently, it may represent insidious trauma. Herpes is typically more vesicular with clear fluid, as well as, stinging or itching. I do not think it is anything to worry about, but get it checked out anyway. It would be highly unusual for someone in your age group to have lip cancer.

How many days have you had it? Is it getting bigger?

If you have had it only a few days and it is not getting bigger or becoming painful, you might take a wait and see attitude. If it is clearly infected, then you want to deal with that, but you really would expect some tenderness. I am trying to think of what types of cysts might arise there, but everything I come up with would be inside the mouth or inner portion of the lip. Fordyce granules is the closest thing I can imagine, but they also effect the mucosa rather than the outside portion of the lip. I will look into epidermoid cysts to see if they effect the lips.

Warm regards

Edited by Victoria on 8/25/2008 at 7:31 PM