A few days ago I woke up and found a few bumps on my lip that looked like little pimples or blisters. They did not hurt, they only itched a little bit, and not all the time. The itching is not severe, in fact it might just be my imagination.
The night before my lips had been very chapped and dry, but I forgot to put vaseline on them before I went to bed. In the morning I accidentally scraped one of the bumps with my nail, and that's how I discovered they were there. It leaked a tiny bit of clear fluid and "throbbed" but did not hurt. There are about 5-6 bumps, all spread out (some are kind of near one another, but none are clustered). None seem inflamed, and there is no swelling, redness or pain. They're only on my upper lip area, but not where the skin meets the lip. The bumps are tiny, like pinhead sized.
Could these be a cold sore outbreak? I have never had one before, and I am sure I would remember it if I had. I am a bit of a hypochondriac and am very, very careful to never drink after people or kiss someone with sores. I did kiss someone about a month ago (27 days), but wouldn't that be outside the normal incubation period for cold sores? Also, I did have a blood test done about 1 1/2 years ago for HSV1 and 2, both were negative at that time.
I am very worried I might have cold sores. It's been 3 days now and the blisters have not changed. I want to believe that's not what they are, but I don't know of anything else that causes blister-like bumps on your lip area! I have not been to the doctor because I do not have insurance and am afraid to waste the money on a swab if it ends up I am just being silly. My only reasons for believing this is not a cold sore is the fact that they don't hurt, I had no prodrome symptoms, and they're not clustered like the typical cold sore presentation. Also, the fact that I've never had one.
Please advise? Should I get this checked out or stop worrying about it? I am very upset over this and am losing sleep, not eating well, etc. Thank you for reading, sorry this was long.