# Can you get a zit inside your mouth? (TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154 "2010-01-23T19:50:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/1 "2010-01-23T19:50:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/2 "2010-01-23T20:01:32Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/3 "2010-01-23T20:18:25Z")
I’ve had those before too. Wonder if QtM will pop in with his opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/4 "2010-01-23T21:43:03Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/5 "2010-01-23T21:47:00Z")
Don’t actual pimples form in pores or hair follicles? Which you don’t have inside your mouth? ETA: Ninja’d. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/6 "2010-01-23T22:54:16Z")
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](http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=canker%20sore&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi) ---
**Author:** ![opmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@opmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/opmike)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/7 "2010-01-23T22:56:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/8 "2010-01-24T01:58:37Z")
Pop it and report back. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/9 "2010-01-24T02:06:05Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > Pop it and report back. With video. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/10 "2010-01-24T02:23:18Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/11 "2010-01-24T02:29:45Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/12 "2010-01-24T03:26:40Z")
> [@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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/13 "2010-01-25T15:55:22Z")
> [@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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-zit-inside-your-mouth-tmi/526154/14 "2010-01-26T04:13:40Z")
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**?