"Delighted with the result"

For around the last 15 years I had a small lump in my lower lip with a blood bubble around it. I was originally referred by my dentist to the Edinburgh Dental Hospital around 2010 and had 3 rounds of cryotherapy on the blood bubble which did reduce the size of it slightly. However the discolouration and bubble remained and I was concerned that the lump inside was gradually increasing in size.

Around 12 months ago I mentioned this to my dentist who once again referred me to the Edinburgh Dental Hospital. Following an examination of the area it was explained to me that the lump was caused by calcification and this had in turn blocked the blood vessels causing the blood bubble on my lip. The solution was a small operation to cut the lip and remove the calcification but I was warned that this would be a painful and uncomfortable period of recovery with the potential of permanent nerve damage. When I attended my appointment in March for the operation I was mentally prepared for all that was to happen. Vicky who was going to be carrying out the operation had another look at the area and said there was another potential solution. A new cryotherapy machine was arriving at the hospital during the summer and this would allow her to undertake a very targeted dose of treatment to the blood bubble to reduce the size of it without having to cut into my lip. It would not however remove the calcification. After quickly weighing up the options I decided to wait until the new machine arrived and to try this new process which sounded a lot less painful.

Fast forward to September 2025 and I was back in the chair for Vicky to use the new machine on my lip. She explained that she would undertake 3 rounds of treatment that day which consisted of 60 seconds of cryotherapy per round with a minute in between each round. The device as far as I could tell seemed to be similar to a pen and she applied this to the blood bubble. I had the option to have my lip numbed with an injection before the treatment but decided against it as the pain of the injection would probably have been as painful as the treatment itself. Each round of treatment did cause a bit of pain and discomfort but it was probably nothing compared to the original option of cutting the lip. Vicky explained that following the treatment my lip would swell and there would be some numbness for a few days. The lip would then crust over and probably an ulcer would form before things started to heal. She advised to use Vaseline to keep my lips from drying out. Depending on the result of this round of cryotherapy I could have another 2 rounds if required.

In the days after the procedure things went pretty much as had been expected. My lower lip where the cryotherapy had taken place did get pretty swollen and I had to drink through a straw for 3 days. The crust then formed which was followed by a large ulcer but there was no pain at all. 

After around 2 weeks everything had settled down and it was obvious the the blood bubble had completely disappeared. But an unintended consequence meant that the calcification was now very visible through my lip and appeared as a hard small white ball sticking through my lip. It was becoming annoying and much more noticeable that the blood bubble ever was. It appeared to be coming more to the surface so I decided to see whether I could pull it out with my teeth. I trapped it between my teeth and out it came with no pain at all. For a few days I had an indentation in my lip where the calcification had been but this gradually disappeared and my lip was back to normal.

I had my follow up appointment today and Vicky and her colleagues were delighted with the result. They hadn't expected the calcification to come out so that was a bonus. There is a possibility that the blood bubble may return in the future but I would not hesitate to have the same procedure again if it does.