Pimple or oral herpes?

[Gruvis]

So about a week ago i got this "pimple" on my lower lip, and i didnt think too much of it.  It kinda hurt, but ive had pimples that felt the same.  It didnt itch or burn or anything like that.  Maybe 4 days after this "pimple" first appeared i was looking at it in the mirror and saw 3 little dots that looked like whiteheads.  So i took a pin and popped them and a small amount of white puss came out, much like when u pop a whitehead.  After that i just kept putting chapstick on my lips, and the next day it was back.  I thought that maybe since id been using chapstick that i may have just kept the bacterica trapped in my mouth, so i started using a gel that i put on pimples so make them go away (its like 2% syrillic acid) and it responed well to that the pimple shrinks down when i put it on, but the next day its always back.  It doesnt hurt anymore, nor has it dried up or split open, just like the first layer of skin has peeled off (prolly from me tongueing it all the time).  Its been about a week now and it still there pretty much unchanged from the first day.  How can i tell the difference between oral herpes and a pimple? are there any tell tale signs?
Thanks Doc
Tony

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Here are some differences between herpes and acne.  Most pimples clear up pretty quickly after being popped; herpes lesions persist longer.  Oral herpes more often appears in clusters of a few lesions close to one another, whereas pimples mostly are single.  When oral herpes recurs, it generally reappears in more or less the same spot.  Herpes often progresses to develop a golden crust, rather than a simple dry-blood scab.

None of this is absolute.  To know for sure, see a health care provider, preferably when the lesions are less than 2-3 days old and before your pop or otherwise manipulate them.

Best wishes--  HHH, MD

[janie511]

A related discussion, white pimple on lower lip was started.