Painful Injuries Of The Tongue And Lips

Injury to the tongue, lips and the inside of the mouth is very common. The exposed location and soft flesh of the lips make them susceptible to injury. A blow to the face can cause your teeth to crush against your lips, causing cuts or bruising. Your teeth can puncture the inside of your skin or cut your lips. A blow or fall may cause you to bite your tongue. Any cut inside the mouth generally bleeds severely because of the huge supply of blood to the area.



Symptoms:

Symptoms include:

• Cuts on the tongue or lips
• Bleeding
• Swelling
• Bruising

Diagnosis:

Your physician or dentist will ask that how you got injured and do a careful physical exam of the injured area. If the lips are hurt, he or she will check the teeth and bone for injury and look for pieces of damaged tooth.

Expected duration:

The healing time for a tongue injury or lip injury will depend on how severely it is cut. However, there are many blood vessels in the mouth, which assists in quick healing.

Prevention:

Many tongue and lip injuries happen during sports or other such activities. But, you can prevent this type of injuries by using a safety mouth guard. Mouth guards are made of soft plastic that is designed to fit the shape of the upper teeth. Guards made for heavier contact sports cover both the lower and upper teeth. Mouth guards protect both the teeth and lips by providing a shield to the front teeth. You can get a customized mouth guard from your dentist.

Regularly using seat belts can decrease the risk of injury as a result of car accidents.

Treatment:

You can clean wounded skin surfaces with mild water and soft clean cloth. In case of cuts inside the mouth rinse with hydrogen peroxide solution or salt water. Make sure you don’t swallow this peroxide rinse. However, don’t get worried if it foams.

If your lip is bruised or swollen, apply a cold compress. In case of bleeding, take a clean soft cloth and apply pressure on the injured area for at least 5 minutes. Using ice can assist limit bleeding, swelling and discomfort. Crush the ice and wrap it in the clean piece of cloth or gauze and keep it on the affected area.

Some injuries will need treatment by the best dentist. It is very important to have an experienced dentist stitch cuts that cross the vermilion border. It is the line that creates the junction between the flesh part and skin of the lip. Experience is important to ensure this border heals correctly. Even a slight change will be clearly visible.

Rush to Edmonton Emergency Dental Clinic if:

Bleeding can’t be controlled with a cold compress or pressure

The lip is punctured

You have a deep cut

Fever

Drainage of pus

Tenderness

Swelling

Redness

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