# I have a strange lump in my mouth **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678 "2000-01-28T19:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/1 "2000-01-29T06:36:00Z")
On the roof of my mouth, on one side is a lump. Its firm, but not hard, and doesnt hurt unless I bother it with my tongue, or check it with my finger. The roof of the mouth is solid cartilege(sp) isnt it? What could cause a lump there, its not a cancer, or a wart or anything, just a smooth lump. No smarty pants replies please, I am serious about this, and it kinda freaks me out a bit. ( I go to the doctor in a couple weeks anyway, so I will have it checked then.) Any hypotheses in the mean time? ---
**Author:** ![Germ\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Germ\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Germ_Boy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/2 "2000-01-29T06:49:00Z")
A tooth abcess. Call a dentist now. your brain is millimeters away from that pus pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/3 "2000-01-28T19:11:00Z")
Did you eat or drink anything that was too hot, by any chance? I sometimes get a blister on the roof of my mouth if I bite into food that hasn’t cooled down enough. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/4 "2000-01-28T19:11:00Z")
Have you eaten at a Taco Bell recently? ---
**Author:** ![Germ\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Germ\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Germ_Boy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/5 "2000-01-28T19:17:00Z")
Do you know where your pokemon is? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/6 "2000-01-28T20:42:00Z")
You have two, actually, they are a pair, they have some obscure purpose which I can’t now recall. I went to my dentist with this very problem, check it out first, is there one on the other side as well? It’s supposed to be there - relax. ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/7 "2000-01-28T21:09:00Z")
Its not an injury, or a burn, and there is no corresponding bump on the other side. Its just to the side of the crease on the roof of my mouth…so its not that close to teeth. Any other ideas? Not you germboy. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/8 "2000-01-28T21:29:00Z")
Wait a few days, it could just be a Herphes Simplex type 1 thing. 99% of us have HP Type 1 anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/9 "2000-01-28T21:52:00Z")
**Kelli** , could it be a sinus infection. I have hole in the bottom of my sinus cavity. When I get a sinus infection, a pus pocket can build up on the roof of my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/10 "2000-01-28T22:01:00Z")
Herpes or a pus pocket… Well, thanks for answering… (I wish I hadnt asked!) ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Thin_Skin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/11 "2000-01-28T22:01:00Z")
Kelli, How long have you had this thing? What color is it? Eat any spicy/crunchy foods lately? Accidentally get some chemicals in the mouth recently? How are the lymph nodes? ---
**Author:** ![Germ\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Germ\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Germ_Boy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/12 "2000-01-28T23:10:00Z")
Ms. Belli, Didn’t mean to gross you out. Speaking from recent and expensive experience, what you describe fits into the picture of a dental problem. Oh…maybe you meant the pokemon thing… GB ---
**Author:** ![Vestal\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Vestal\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vestal_Blue)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/13 "2000-01-28T23:17:00Z")
Get thee to a physician, sweetie, post-haste. It’s probably nothing, but it is _not_ worth ignoring. Keep us posted. * * * VB Tempus is fugiting all over the place! Carpe that diem! ---
**Author:** ![mega\_the\_roo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mega\_the\_roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mega_the_roo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/14 "2000-01-28T23:19:00Z")
i tend to get bumps on the roof of my mouth, too. always in the same spot, on either side. it only really bothers me when i eat something crunchy or brush my teeth in that area… but in a few days it’s gone. after telling the dentist about it, he said " i can give you something for it and it’ll be gone in seven days, or else you can just leave it alone and it’ll be gone in a week." so if it’s the same thing - don’t worry about it. * * * “human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust; we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.” - albert einstein ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/15 "2000-01-28T23:37:00Z")
How long have you had this thing? \*a week maybe What color is it? \*same color as the rest of the the roof of my mouth Eat any spicy/crunchy foods lately? \*YUP, same as every day Accidentally get some chemicals in the mouth recently? \*no How are the lymph nodes? - they appear to be normal. I’ll keep y’all posted.even you germboy 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Anti\_Pro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Anti\_Pro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anti_Pro)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/16 "2000-01-29T00:17:00Z")
Kellibelli, the others have urged you to a doctor, so this is beating the subject, but call your dentist first, and DON’T wait for your appointment in a couple of weeks. Call as soon as you can to change it. It probably isn’t anything, but you ARE thinking about it, and it would be worth it just to get it off your mind. Keep us up to date… * * * “Consider it a challenge…” ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/17 "2000-01-29T00:49:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Wait a few days, it could just be a Herphes Simplex type 1 thing. Herphes? > [@](#): > > 99% of us have HP Type 1 anyway. HP Type 1? Hewlett-Packard makes viruses now? It’s HSV. Handy’s magical statistic fairy is back. HSV-1’s prevalence is closer to 80%. Depending on the population. * * * I used to rock and roll all night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I’m lucky if I can find a half an hour a week in which to get funky. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/18 "2000-01-29T01:10:00Z")
Alphagene, ah ha, you dare question my statistics eh? Alright, let’s put some money on the table this time, no more mr nice guy! 🙂 Just for a change, lets see your statistics, then, I, mr medical college educated shall dispense same. Sorry I meant HS1 not HP1 but then close enough that anyone with a few brain cells could figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/19 "2000-01-29T03:10:00Z")
The information comes from working with and exclusively studying HSV-1 in a herpesvirus lab for the past four years. Unfortunately, my _Field’s Virology_ isn’t here on vacation with me. You are saying that virtually everyone has HSV-1. It is a common virus, but I still maintain that its seroprevalence is below 99%. * * * I used to rock and roll all night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I’m lucky if I can find a half an hour a week in which to get funky. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678/20 "2000-01-29T16:36:00Z")
HSV-1 seropositives under 99%? Well, okay, but that depends on what group you are testing. There is some Seroepidemiological statistics on the net. But let’s just say that it’s a lot of people. “Cold sores, also called fever blisters, are a painful infection caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV)-Type 1” “Ninety percent of all people get at least one cold sore in their lives.” From:[http://onhealth.com/ch1/resource/conditions/item,268.asp](http://onhealth.com/ch1/resource/conditions/item,268.asp) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-strange-lump-in-my-mouth/6678.md?page=2)