Venous lake on my lip

To the two anons in the UK - Have you looked into whether laser treatment is available? If you read earlier posts in this thread some of our U.S. readers have had success with laser removal.

Hi i am also from the uk and have had my venous lake since birth although it has only just started to bother me that i went to the doctor, he advised it was a cyst but i had a hospital appointment yesterday and the surgen said it was a VL. dilemma - do i remove or keep it as have heard they can reoccur and is the scar going to make my lip look worse as they will need to cut out a dimond shap insision on the top of my lip to remove and stitch up. Have also heard that lip after the op and fully healed can cause pain and discomfort. Like yourself lipstick does not cover it (probably does but i'm concious its there) mine flares up every now and again although not often touch wood but can be painful and a right eye sore when it is big.

I have had one on my top lip for several years I am in the UK and my GP said that if they removed it it could leave a pucker in my lip, but I hate having it, I can't cover it with lipstick and it seems to be getting darker. Wish there was something you could take or put on it to make it shrink.

Hi Holly - I love that you got a bargain too - way to go! Thanks also for your many comments, this seems like a topic where it's hard to get good information from real patients and your help is much appreciated. Please stay in touch - no age needed. :-)

Nice to hear of your success - did you go out and get a special new lipstick? :-)

I had my venous lake removed via surgery after two treatments with the V Beam laser did not improve its appearance. It took about 10 minutes and healed within 2 weeks with an undetectable scar. My venous lake was not on the surface of my lip, so it never bled. I think its depth was the reason the laser did not work. I was SO happy with my surgical results...until about a month later when it already seemed to be coming back.This time, if I press on it, it disappears completely, but will reappear if I do something that increases blood flow to my lip, such as bend over or do strenuous exercise. I am really self-conscious of this. I'm 34 years old and it first appeared after my first pregnancy at age 30. It grew slowly at first, but during my second pregnancy at 33, the increased blood flow that happens naturally during pregnancy caused it to become HUGE and I got the surgery shortly after I gave birth! I really want this thing gone for good. *sigh*