Busted lips are not uncommon problem. Swollen lips do not only contribute to imperfect physical look, but may also cause itching and pain. Trauma to the lip and mouth can cause either one of or both lips to bleed or bust.

What contributes to swollen lip?

Busted lips occur as a result of trauma to the tissues of the lip, which is triggered by inflammation or fluid buildup. Lip enlargement may affect the upper and lower lip on its outer and inner sides. These injuries can be minor and more severe, depending on the causes. Among the most common triggers of busted lips, some of those are:

• Bug bites and stings

Bug bites and stings cause the body to naturally defend its parts from any kinds of chemical released by biting insects by triggering inflammation of certain tissues. Bug bites and stings are commonly harmless, and busted lip caused by this factor can be healed by applying topical analgesic ointment.

• Allergies

Some allergies trigger watery eyes and sneezing, while some others can cause busted lips as a natural reaction of the immune system when the body has a contact with foreign allergens, such as dust mites, pollen, foods, and other kinds of allergens. Allergies are usually healed by taking prescribed antibiotics or keeping away from potential allergens.

• Infection

Lip infection can be caused by some different risk factors. One of the most common infection to the lips is herpes virus infection. This kind of infection causes blisters to occur on the lips and around the mouth, causing itching, burning sensation, and inflammation. This infection may spread between humans and between body parts.

• Trauma

Another common cause of swollen lips is trauma to the lips and mouth area. This trauma can be triggered by a hard contact between the lips and hard objects or surfaces. Punches and accidents, for instance, may cause either severely busted or bleeding lips.

• Medications

Side effects of certain medications may contribute to busted or swollen lips, because the chemicals contained in these medications may cause its tissues to inflame. Diphenhydramine and Benadryl are the most common medications triggering swollen lips.

• Cosmetic surgeries

Many people had busted lips which is caused by cosmetic surgeries they have undergone. Lip augmentation is the surgery to blame, as this procedure requires an injection of certain material to the lips in order to correct the lip shape. This material is often assumed by the immune system as a strange enemy, which triggers chemicals which cause tissue inflammation.

Read also: How To Stop Lip Bleeding?

How long does a busted lip need to go down?

Busted lips might be an embarrassing problem related to physical appearance. Yet there is natural method to help busted lips, it also causes pain and discomfort which requires specific attention. Hence, people try to do various things to find out the cause of their busted lips to determine the length of required period for the busted lips to go down. In fact, this period is affected by some factors, such as:

• The cause of the swelling.
• The severity of busted area of the lips.
• Taken or performed treatments.

Hence, some common busted lip phenomena will need variety of time length before it completely heals and goes down. Some illustrations include:

• Busted lip caused by an insect bite does not usually last long, because the chemical secreted by the biting insects will be combated by the immune system and thus, resulted in flattened busted lip. Normally, inflammation caused by the bite will last less than a day, especially when effective topical analgesic is involved. This also works for allergy-triggered busted lip. As long as the allergen is excluded, the busted lip should go down eventually, in less than one full day.
• Busted lip triggered by infection will take longer time to heal. With herpes, for example, someone may need three days to a week to completely find out flattened busted lips.
• Busted lips caused by trauma might be the longest to heal, especially if it is severely busted and wounded, as the tissues and new cells take some time to regrow completely.
• Swollen lips as a result of cosmetic surgery can heal after a long period, when the injected material is taken out or dissolved. However, it can also be quite permanent, as a prolonged reaction to these material.