Published on: 3/5/2025
A red spot on your lip with no pain can be a benign change in your blood vessels, like a cherry hemangioma, or a small spot from a minor bleed called a petechial hemorrhage. Both are usually harmless.
Sometimes, you might see a red spot on your lip without any pain because of a small change in the tiny blood vessels. One possibility is a cherry hemangioma—a common, small, red bump that forms when blood vessels grow in a cluster. Cherry hemangiomas are not harmful or painful and often appear as bright red spots. Another cause can be a petechial hemorrhage, which occurs when tiny blood vessels leak a little bit of blood under the skin, creating a small red mark. This can occur from a very minor injury or even sometimes just from pressure. In most cases, these red spots do not cause pain and do not need treatment. It is always a good idea, though, to keep an eye on any skin changes. If the red spot gets bigger, changes color, or you notice any other symptoms, talking with a doctor is the best way to be sure everything is okay. These spots are usually just a normal part of how our skin looks and functions, and they often don’t signal a problem.
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Glick M, Siegel MA. Viral and fungal infections of the oral cavity in immunocompetent patients. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 1999 Dec;13(4):817-31, vi. doi: 10.1016/s0891-5520(05)70110-0. PMID: 10579110.
Lee JH, Lee JH, Kwon NH, Yu DS, Kim GM, Park CJ, Lee JD, Kim SY. Clinicopathologic Manifestations of Patients with Fordyce's Spots. Ann Dermatol. 2012 Feb;24(1):103-6. doi: 10.5021/ad.2012.24.1.103. Epub 2012 Feb 2. PMID: 22363169; PMCID: PMC3283840.
Qadeer HA, Singal A, Patel BC. Cherry Hemangioma. [Updated 2023 Apr 3]. In: StatPearls [Internet].
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