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Avatar universal

Bump(s) on upper lip

Hello.  History: I have had a problem with warts on my hands for many years now; have and am attempting to treat them in various ways.  They have occurred on the outer part of the hand, but I believe that the virus is also carried in the skin around the nail from picking when I was younger and didn't know better.  Recently I have discovered a great deal of small warts on various parts of my hands (I cannot tell how new they are), which leads me to think that the virus has been pretty active and contagious.  I also noticed a very small one on my nose, which I assume transferred from my hands at some point.  For a while I was afraid that I had somehow transferred the warts to my genitals, but a pap test with HPV testing and a biopsy showed negative results.

At any rate, I have had chapped lips.  Today I was scrubbing the dead skin from the lips and noticed a bump on the upper left part of the lip; when the skin was pulled taut it had whitish color.  It is about 1.5 mm in diameter.  Warts I have had in the past have also shown up as bumps/circles that were whiter than the surrounding skin.  I read other questions and looked at pictures, and do not think it is either Fordyce's Condition or herpes.    My boyfriend has never had signs of oral herpes, and I have found a picture showing that the main bump of interest has been there since before we were together.  I've maybe found other smaller bumps, though not white, on other parts of the lips, but don't know what to think.

Pictures (somewhat blurry):
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k261/alisonx_2006/lip2.jpg
The white bump is visible on the upper left lip; other bumps on the lower lip are visible, but these might simply be due more to irritation from scrubbing my lips...I hope.
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k261/alisonx_2006/lip1.jpg
The bump is again visible on the right side of the picture, and this is when the lips were not scrubbed but in normal condition.
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k261/alisonx_2006/lip3.jpg
On close examination, the upper right side of my lip was also problematic, showing up not as whiter bumps (though they look white here) but as textural differences in the skin--I don't know if that's irritation from the scrubbing or also a problem.

I am unsure what to think first of all because I haven't seen much information on the internet discussing the possibility of transferring hand warts to the lips or mouth, but since the virus does seem so comfortable on my hands and because I have picked at my dry lips from time to time in the past, it seems very possible.  But more than that, I am afraid of the possibility, if this does seem like a wart, of having transferred it to my boyfriend: not only have we kissed, I have also given him oral sex.  I really don't know what to think anymore, and I will try to see a dermatologist as soon as possible--I just really, really would like some feedback.  Thanks.
2 Responses
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242489 tn?1210497213
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
None of the pictures looks like a wart on your lip.  If people could transfer warts from hand to lip (or anywhere else), we would all be covered with warts.  So you don't need to worry about your hands transferring warts elsewhere.

When you see the dermatologist, you can have the hand warts treated.  Meantime, don;t touch the lip bump, so the doctor can tell what it is when you're there.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff
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Avatar universal
Let me also add for clarification that my boyfriend has no history of genital warts.
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