Hello-

I'm looking for a little insight here. under my top lip, in the fleshy area between the actual top lip and the bottom of my nose there are two tiny lumps. they are smaller than pea size, one a bit smaller than the other. they are smooth and seem free floating in the loose flesh. they are not painful or visible when looking at them in a mirror. the only way you can detect them is by touch. if i pull my top lip out and feel underneath they are easily detected. does this sound like mouth cancer, or something benign. i'm 25, don't smoke or chew, and in good health. i know the only for sure way is to see the doc, but some experienced person could give me a little insight please. thanks.

First the caveat, no one without looking at you can tell you what you have, and that person should be a doctor or dentist trained to do so. Having said that, I will offer you my personal observation, one of a non doctor who is well informed, but is not licensed to give out medical opinions. First, USUALLY only those things which have not resolved within 2 weeks should be considered suspect. There are all kinds of bumps that come and go in a persons mouth, and the majority of them are benign. Second, the location that you are describing is not one of the most likely locations for oral cancer to appear. If the bumps are clear, and of short duration, and continuing to grow, they are most like a simple thing called a mucocele. There are tons of little ducts in the linings of the mucosa in your mouth that secrete moisture. Sometimes one of them gets clogged up, and the clear fluid backs up right under the uppermost layer of tissue causing a little blister like bump. It eventually ruptures and the bump and all goes away in a few days. If you have these bumps that you describe for more than two weeks, have your dentist take a look, and to put you mind totally at rest, he can do a very simple biopsy to have the tissue examined by a pathologist.