There are rare times when a household accident or hard fall can impact your face, causing a significant lip injury. Sometimes this can cause pain, swelling, bleeding, or other discomfort. In a situation like this, there are a few things you can do to help manage the pain and minimize complications while seeking professional care.
It might help to assess the trauma to your lip. You can do this by lightly wiping away any blood with a wet washcloth. You might be able to control mild bleeding by applying light pressure to a sterile gauze bandage. If your lip bleeds excessively for more than 20 minutes, you should seek emergency care.
You can hold a cold compress to your lip at the first sign of swelling. You shouldn’t apply the cold compress to your lip for more than 20 minutes. The long-term exposure to cold can also aggravate sensitive tissues and hinder blood flow.
If you don’t have one readily at hand, you can improvise a cold compress with a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel.
If you’ve just suffered a significant lip injury and you live in the Las Vegas, Nevada area, you can always call 702-384-5070 to talk to Dr. William Robison or a staff member at Whispering Pines Dental.