What should you know about swollen puffy lips?

A puffy lip may be caused by biting, dental work, a minor knock, sun exposure, a new cosmetic, or irritation from food and oral-care products. It can also accompany hives or angioedema. Angioedema presents with swelling beneath the skin, often around the lips and eyes, and can develop after a food, medicine, insect sting, or physical trigger; sometimes no clear trigger is found.

Compare both sides and look for tenderness, warmth, itching, rash, blisters, a broken tooth, or a mouth sore. A single swollen area after an injury behaves differently from swelling that appears quickly without an obvious cause.

Remove a suspected new product and avoid foods that sting or irritate the area. Use a cool, clean compress for short periods, drink fluids, and do not massage, squeeze, or puncture the swelling. If there was an injury, soft foods can reduce movement while the lip settles. Do not take someone else’s prescription medicine.

Contact a healthcare professional if the puffiness does not improve, returns repeatedly, or is accompanied by pain, warmth, discharge, fever, or dental symptoms. Bring a list of recent foods, medicines, supplements, products, and insect exposures.

Call emergency services for tongue or throat swelling, noisy or difficult breathing, trouble swallowing saliva, dizziness, collapse, or rapidly expanding facial swelling. These symptoms may signal a severe allergic reaction. Prompt medical review is also sensible for severe pain, fever, or swelling near an infected tooth.

Ask what the likely trigger is, whether you need allergy or dental assessment, which products and medicines to avoid, and what to do if swelling returns during the night.