Can you get a zit inside your mouth? (TMI)

[Rigamarole]

Yesterday I noticed a small red bump just inside my mouth on the left side. It looks like a pimple, however I am concerned by the fact that it's inside my mouth - not a place where I would usually get one.

This is not a request for medical advice yada yada yada, just want to know if it is possible for a pimple to actually form in that area.

[RealityChuck]

Sounds like a cold sore (https://health.google.com/health/ref/Herpes+labialis). Don't let the "herpes" scare you -- the ones in your mouth are different.

[faithfool]

I've had those before too. Wonder if QtM will pop in with his opinion?

[Machine Elf]

A zit is the result of a clogged sweat gland in the skin. I don't think we have sweat glands on the inside of our mouths, so zits here are probably impossible.

[chorpler]

Don't actual pimples form in pores or hair follicles? Which you don't have inside your mouth?

ETA: Ninja'd.

[FloatyGimpy]

Maybe it's a canker sore.

http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=canker%20sore&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

[opmike]

Yes, I'm thinking a canker sore/mouth ulcer rather than a cold sore. I get them from time to time; usually on the interior of my left cheek. It gradually worsens and then clears up on its own.

[Hockey Monkey]

Pop it and report back.

[River Hippie]

Pop it and report back.

With video.

[CookingWithGas]

Yes, it wouldn't technically be a pimple but it could be a small infection which could get red and inflamed and have a whitehead of pus, just like a pimple. To the untrained eye it would look like a pimple. To a doctor it would look like...something else.

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

Could be a herpetic cold sore, could be an apthous ulcer, could be a mucocele, could be a plugged salivary duct, could be other things too.

I'm not going to try to make further guesses or diagnose without being able to take a good history and do an exam.

[Chief Pedant]

Could be a herpetic cold sore, could be an apthous ulcer, could be a mucocele, could be a plugged salivary duct, could be other things too.

I'm not going to try to make further guesses or diagnose without being able to take a good history and do an exam.
A small painless raised bump on the buccal mucosa near the molars is often the result of a small salivary calculus stuck (usually temporarily) at the exit of the parotid gland duct (called Stenson's duct).

See here (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.doctorspiller.com/images/OralAnatomy/StensonsDuctWithAphthous.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.doctorspiller.com/stenson's_duct1.htm&h=371&w=582&sz=22&tbnid=ry0t1B54cnrv-M:&tbnh=85&tbnw=134&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstenson%2527s%2Bduct&usg=__02eGTPBPI19__VqYo0s_ZidM1A0=&ei=cbxbS_eiLY6oNqmkqfwO&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CBUQ9QEwAw) for a representative photograph, although in this photograph the thing that looks like a pimple is actually a small mucosal ulcer overlying the duct papilla (exit).

As QtM mentions, it could be early cancer, too, so we don't like to make a diagnosis or even a very strong diagnostic suggestion, over a message board.

You can get ordinary abscesses in the mouth, along with a host of other lesions; small ulcerations are more common than pimply-looking things.

[Mama Zappa]

Could be a herpetic cold sore, could be an apthous ulcer, could be a mucocele, could be a plugged salivary duct, could be other things too.

I'm not going to try to make further guesses or diagnose without being able to take a good history and do an exam.
In other words, Rigmarole, you need to move to Wisconsin and commit a felony, stat!

Or what might be easier... if it doesn't go away in a couple of days, pop in and visit your dentist or primary care doc; they'll be qualified to tell you what it is.

[Cat Whisperer]

I often get canker sores, too (my mouth is just a circus of various sores and weirdnesses, for some unknown reason), and they sometimes have a small, white area in the middle that kind of looks like the head of a pimple. Canker sores usually clear up on their own in a day or two; if I get one in an area that is constantly irritated (where a crooked tooth rubs on the inside of my mouth or something), I might need to take more measures to get it to clear up.

So? How's your mouth pimple, Rigamarole?