# What are the little bead-like things you can feel under the skin inside your lips? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 20, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387 "2011-03-20T19:12:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387/41 "2017-10-16T22:12:09Z")
Fordyce spots. > **[Do you have Fordyce Spots?](https://www.nursebridgid.com/2013/02/do-you-have-fordyce-spots.html)** > > Some bumps that may cause concern, but are benign! ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387/42 "2017-10-17T15:44:43Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The OP was confused about where his lips are, so he may well have meant the sublingual thingummys. Not really. He/she just clarified that they meant inside the lips, not outside. They didn’t say anything about under the tongue. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387/43 "2017-10-17T16:06:13Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I still hold that mucocele is quite likely, even all these years later. > > Updated image here: [http://www.primehealthchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Mucocele-Photos.jpg](http://www.primehealthchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Mucocele-Photos.jpg) I haven’t checked the cite–I’m still traumatized by **Qadgop’s** Bagel Dick[sup]TM[/sup]. Is it SFLB? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387/44 "2017-10-17T17:40:09Z")
Any possibility this is just fat? The same sort of thing that causes cellulite in thighs and butts, but happening in your lip? I wouldn’t describe it as like a BB at all, or even a singular thing. It’s kind of like if your lips were made of balloons filled with jello. There would be some soft almost-bubbly texture underneath the skin, but only noticeable when you squeeze or really press your tongue in looking for it. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387/45 "2017-10-17T18:10:29Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Any possibility this is just fat? See post 41. Fordyce spots are oil filled cysts. They’re more common in people with higher levels of fat in their blood. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387/46 "2017-10-17T19:32:55Z")
They could be fly larvae…as seen on Cracked today: Be real sure you want to see this before you click! [I mean it! (Item 3)](http://www.cracked.com/article_25083_6-horrifying-parasites-that-could-be-inside-you-right-now.html) ---
**Author:** ![zuer-coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ba9def/32.png) [@zuer-coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuer-coli)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387/47 "2017-10-19T23:09:13Z")
Warning gross! Recently on the Web somewhere there were pictures of a person who was squeezing a lump of whites material out of xis\* lower lip. It was in the area where the inside of the lip tansitions into the iinside of the mouth. My recollection is that the accompanying article said this person routinely presses these objects out of xis lip. I also recall that accompaning photo showed this person with a row of white bumps along the the inner edge of xis lip.The article also said that the lumps were harmless, it also explained how the lumps were formed. I regret that I can’t recall where I saw this or what those things are called. \*xis is a neturall personal pronoun Zuer-coli ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387/48 "2017-10-20T02:46:54Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > If you run your tongue around the inside of your lips you can feel small things about the size of BBs under the skin. What are these? Ask your dentist. Because a dentist can fully explained what you are referring to and if there is any cause for concern. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387/49 "2017-10-20T03:15:41Z")
I’ve had these, too, my whole life. When I run my tongue along my bottom lips, between the lips and gumline, I feel little tapioca bumps like described before. Never thought it was anything interesting, and never had a dentist comment on it. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387/50 "2017-10-20T04:49:59Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > [labial glands](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labial_glands) > > More aptly descibed as feeling like what you would find in tapioca pudding. So is there any reason this isn’t the correct answer? Because it seems like exactly what I thought of when I read the OP, yet people continue discussing this as if it’s still an open question… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-little-bead-like-things-you-can-feel-under-the-skin-inside-your-lips/575387.md?page=2)