Hi. I'd like to describe my situation in the hopes that someone might share some thoughts. First a bit of background: I am a 44 year old male with a ten yearish history of using dip tobacco which I quit 15 years ago. I have a habit of running my tongue along the inside of my lower lip and about ten days ago I noticed a lump on the far left side of my lower lip. I believe that it is a swollen gland as there is a (non swollen) gland in almost the exact position on the right side. Obviously thought, that's just specuation. It's hard to guess the size but it's probably just less than a cm in diameter. One bit of strangeness is that within 24 hours of having noticed the lump, a secondary lesion developed nearby and about a cm or two towards the midline. This one was much harder and very small; about the size of a large grain of salt. At some point on the night I noticed it, the smaller lesion just kind of 'deflated' and I thought that it was going to go away. However the next morning it was back and hasn't changed since.

Based on what I've read on this board (and other sites), the smaller lesion sounds like a mucocoele. It seems really hard to imagine that the two lesions aren't related. I have made an appointment for next week with an ENT, but I do have one specific question and I'd love to hear any useful general input anyone might have. My specificc question regards the ENT. If he deems a biopsy is necessary, is that a procedure that any ENT can do in the office? Or might he have to refer me to someone else?

Thanks in advance for any responses.