Why does a child have a swollen lip and what to do?

Beautiful, slightly swollen lips in a woman are a sign of sexuality and many are ready to go under the surgeon's knife to get this attribute. But what to do if a child's lip is swollen?

Swelling is a natural process – the body’s response to some external or internal stimulus.

Causes of lip swelling in children

Sometimes, swelling appears suddenly, against our will. It is unpleasant when it happens to an adult - an external defect and internal discomfort. But it is twice as hard if it happens to a small child. After all, such changes do not occur without reason, they indicate some problems that affect the health of the victim. Finding the cause and eliminating it is the main goal of therapy. So what are the most common causes of lip swelling in a child?

First, let's figure out what kind of swellings are encountered. The swelling can affect both lips equally, it can affect only the upper or only the lower lip, it can be located shifted to one side. The swelling can be observed independently, or it can be combined with the manifestation of purulent processes, a defect of the mucous membrane.

Before you see a doctor and start treatment, you should not panic, but, having calmed down, analyze the situation to understand what preceded the appearance of swelling.

• The cause of a child's lip swelling may be an allergic reaction to some food product.
• This could be a consequence of an insect bite.
• This is how a baby's teeth might be cutting.
• A consequence of the inflammatory process occurring in the baby's body.
• Children are inquisitive and active, so this symptom may appear after a bruise or injury.
• A disease caused by an infection or virus.
• An inflammatory process on the oral mucosa and gums.
• Herpes.
• Consequences of events related to dental treatment.
• Stomatitis can also provoke this problem. With this infectious disease, small ulcers and swellings can affect the surface of the entire oral mucosa, including the lips.
• Piercing – it would seem that this does not concern children, but trendy mothers will stop at nothing to make their child look stylish.
• The baby's bad habit of biting lips.

To properly understand the causes of a child's lip swelling, it is better to seek help from a pediatrician rather than take any measures on your own. If necessary, the local pediatrician can refer you to a more specialized specialist. This could be a surgeon, dermatologist, traumatologist or dentist. To eliminate the problem, it is necessary to eliminate the source that causes it. Sometimes, a qualified specialist will only need to examine the baby to make a diagnosis, and if necessary, he will prescribe the required additional examination.

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The child's upper lip is swollen

Being a mother is not only an honor, but also a great responsibility. Watching the baby grow, relatives get a lot of pleasure, but the responsibility for the little person is also quite high. If something hurts the baby, he starts to be capricious, and it is sometimes quite difficult to understand what is bothering him. Therefore, if the child's upper lip is swollen, then this begins to bother the mother, but not every one of them knows what to do in such a situation.

In this situation, there are two main reasons that can provoke swelling of the upper lip. Inflammation - it can be caused by a blow. A nimble baby simply could not stay on his feet and fell, hitting his upper lip. Inflammation can be caused by a cold, a pathology caused by an infection or damage to pathogenic flora (flu, acute respiratory viral infection, stomatitis). Another reason for the inflammatory process affecting the child's upper lip can be an insect bite, as well as a consequence of unqualified or simply a severe case of dental treatment or gum pathology.

The second, no less common, cause of an unpleasant symptom may be an allergy: both to an external negative irritant and as a reaction of the patient's body to its internal damage: taking medications, an allergy to a bite, a manifestation of herpes, a reaction to some food product. It is necessary to remember what the baby ate the day before and whether a new food product was introduced.

What to do if a child has a swollen lip?

Many people, especially young mothers who have their first baby and don’t have any experience yet, start to panic and wonder what to do if their child’s lip is swollen?

There are quite a few cases when a child's lip is swollen due to an allergic reaction. If the mother knows what the child may be allergic to, it is necessary to protect her baby from sources of irritation as much as possible. If there is no such knowledge, then it is worth analyzing what the child ate. Especially note new, just introduced food products. Assess whether the baby has been in contact with animals, poultry, household chemicals, or maybe it is an allergy to house dust. If it was not possible to independently identify the source of irritation, an allergist can help in this situation. Having conducted test samples, he is able to accurately determine the "culprit" of the child's discomfort. The doctor usually recommends protecting the baby from the allergenic source and prescribes an antihistamine drug. For example, suprastin, zyrtec, kestin, cetirizine, claritin.

The antiallergic drug Cetirizine is designed as a selective antagonist of H1-histamine receptors. Its main characteristics are excellent antiserotonin, anticholinergic and sedative properties. It is used as a drug that effectively relieves itching, swelling and has anti-inflammatory properties. Cetirizine is not addictive. For small patients, the attending physician mainly prescribes it in the form of drops or syrups. The amount of the active substance administered directly depends on the child's age and body weight. The drug is taken under the direct supervision of a doctor.

Toddlers from one to two years old are usually prescribed drops, which are administered in a dosage of five drops twice throughout the day.

Children between the ages of two and six years and weighing less than 30 kg are prescribed five drops (or 2.5 ml of syrup, measured out with the measuring spoon included in the package). The drug is administered twice a day. Or 10 drops (or 5 ml of syrup) once, immediately before the baby goes to bed.

For older children, from six to twelve years old, weighing more than 30 kg, the drug is administered in the following quantity: 10 drops (or 5 ml of syrup form), taken twice during the day. A single administration of the drug is also acceptable, but the dosage is doubled and is 20 drops (or 10 ml of syrup), which are drunk immediately before going to bed.

The administration of the drug is not related to the time of the meal. The duration of therapy is adjusted by the attending physician depending on the form and severity of the allergy and can be either one or six weeks. If a patient is diagnosed with a disease affecting the kidneys and/or liver, the amount of the drug is prescribed strictly individually, most often this dosage is half the usual recommended therapeutic dosage.

Mostly, the drug under consideration is well tolerated by the organisms of the small patient, but in some cases, this medicine should not be prescribed. Such cases include increased sensitivity to the components of the drug and renal failure.

What to do if a child's lip is swollen due to dental problems? There is only one answer - immediately contact a pediatric dentist. Only he can understand the problem and solve it. A child's lip swelling can be caused by damage to the tooth by some pathologies, for example, dental caries. If the doctor cleans the tooth and closes the entrance canal with a filling, then this may be enough to solve the problem. But sometimes it is the filling material that is the source of irritation, causing an allergy, then the child will have to be patient, and the filling will have to be replaced.

Such a reaction of the child's body can also happen to the process of teething, and if this natural action occurs with an increase in body temperature, it is necessary to urgently seek help from a dentist. The same doctor also solves problems with pathological gum disease.

All children, with rare exceptions, are naturally fidgety. Therefore, if parents notice swelling on their child's lips, it is first necessary to eliminate the possibility of a bruise or blow. If this is the result of such damage and the bruise is minor, then it will be enough to apply iodine to the problem area (just in case, to prevent infection).

If there is a clear inflammatory process, pain symptoms appear, a purulent infiltrate begins to form, an unpleasant odor appears from the wounds. In such a situation, it is worth disinfecting the problem area with hydrogen peroxide as soon as possible. The source of such a wound may be a cut, an accidentally torn pimple, as a result of a blow - a rupture of soft tissues. The affected area should be disinfected and dried with iodine. If there is no improvement, consult a doctor. If the therapy was not carried out qualitatively or time was lost, then it may be necessary to open the abscess surgically.

If the cause of a child's swollen lip is herpes or another infectious lesion, treatment includes antiviral drugs: tablet form or ointment, such as acyclovir.

In the form of an ointment, the drug is applied in a thin layer to the problem area twice a day until the symptoms disappear.

If tablets are prescribed for oral administration, the dosage of the drug is determined individually. This indicator is affected by the patient's age, severity of the disease and immune status. In case of viral infection with herpes strains, patients over two years of age are prescribed 0.2 g, which corresponds to one tablet taken five times a day. The duration of treatment is five days. For children from one to two years old, the dosage is halved, the number of injections remains the same.

Contraindications to the use of this medicine are children under one year of age and individual intolerance to the components of the drug.

If there are abscesses or inflammation has affected the periosteum, urgent measures must be taken for treatment. Otherwise, the inflammatory process can reach the brain tissue, which is fraught with a fatal outcome.

Stomatidin is a local antiseptic. The medicine is used undiluted for rinsing or applied to a swab to wipe the oral mucosa. The medicine should not be swallowed. The procedure is carried out two to five times a day for 30 seconds. One procedure takes about 10 to 20 ml. The duration of therapy is seven days. Using the medicine in the form of an aerosol, therapeutic procedures are carried out two to three times a day, one to two presses of the spray.

When breastfeeding a newborn, the baby may experience swelling, which may be caused by improper feeding. When the baby is attached to the mother's breast, a callus may form in the baby's mouth, which causes discomfort and swelling. It is necessary to review the situation and change the feeding tactics. Such data can be conveyed to the young mother by a visiting nurse or a local pediatrician.

A baby's bad habit of biting lips can also cause swelling of the lip. It is very difficult to get rid of such a problem, but it is possible and even necessary. This habit can be psychological in nature and caused by fright and fear. The discomfort in question can also be provoked by secondary factors: a stressful situation, low immune status, hypothermia. In this case, therapy is purely symptomatic.

It cannot be ruled out that a child’s lip swelling is a symptom of damage to one or more organs of the gastrointestinal tract.

• Usually problems of this nature appear suddenly and the sooner you take countermeasures, the faster you will be able to get rid of the unpleasant discomfort. And if there are no necessary medications in the first aid kit, then you can use folk remedies, but then, it is still better to show the baby to the doctor.
• Take an aloe leaf and extract its juice. The plant should be at least three years old (at this time it comes into its own). Soak a cotton swab or gauze folded in several layers in the liquid, or wrap the gruel, and apply a compress to the affected area for 15-20 minutes.
• The following ingredients are used: Fuller's earth and such an oriental spice as turmeric taken in equal proportions. Mix the ingredients with water until a paste-like structure is obtained. The prepared ointment is applied to the problem area and after fifteen to twenty minutes is washed off with plenty of water.
• You can use a beekeeping product. Lubricate the swelling with honey and hold for a third of an hour. Wash off the remaining honey. The procedure is repeated several times during the day.
• Soda is diluted in a small amount of water to a paste-like form. The resulting medicine is used in the form of lotions. The procedure lasts ten minutes, after which the remains are washed off with a sufficient amount of water.
• If you are bitten by an insect, you can apply a piece of ice to the affected area.

A happy child's face is an unspeakable joy for its parents, but if the baby is capricious, the mother is ready to do everything to get her baby back in a good mood. If the child's lip is swollen, it is worth taking first aid measures and trying to find out the cause of this symptom yourself. But it will not be superfluous to show the baby to the doctor. This step allows you not to miss a more serious disease, which became the source of the swelling. Therefore, take care of your children and be more attentive to them. Good health to the babies and their parents!