Toddler cut lipline

[Tapestry222]

Toddler tripped over in playground today and got a swollen fat lip and some grazes but also cut their lip just above the upper lip and going into the lip line border. Cut was small and stopped bleeding fairly quickly but also wasn’t just a thin line - slight gap. She was fine in herself, landed on tummy and didn’t bang her head more her cheek and mouth as she put her head down. Took them to minor injuries to be checked over as brief Google suggested cuts crossing over the lip line need to be seen. The nurse took one look and said I had to go to a (not our usual) A&E with her for a maxfax consult and she would need a stitch because it crossed over lip line. She really worried me even saying ‘it’s her face, her future.’ Went to A&E where they saw the on call Dr and then someone from Max Fax and they said the cut was small and they didn’t like to stitch under 2s and wouldn’t do it there anyway, they would refer to a different hospital but that as cut was small and she is young we should just leave it. They said it will leave a scar but also that so would a stitch. It was hard for them to look properly as she was going absolutely beserk - doesn’t like strangers…
now I’ve got home and I’m worrying about the whole lip line issue (and upset about the scar too). Google and past mumsnet posts suggest that her lip line could be wobbly / notched, she could get a lump,,, etc etc….. has anyone else had a child do this and what happened? Don’t think I will get any sleep tonight :( I wasn’t with her (dad was) at time (literally my 1.5 child free hours a week) of fall and I feel so guilty and upset.

This happened to my son but his I think was probably worse as there was no maybe about it he had a bad wound which 100% needed A&E, it was blood everywhere grab tea towels to shove over his face and literally run to the car and drive, it looked horrendous it was a vertical line straight through the lip line in the middle of one side of his lip, it was very deep too. They looked at it and the doctor very carefully used steri strips to hold it together and he was only to eat soft food and drink through a straw for a couple of weeks. The same as you we were referred to maxfaxs a few days later and we had to go to the appointment to be untaped with him ready to have an operation that day, prepared that it could be fine or that it would need stitching under anesthetic. It had glued it self back together beautifully thankfully. Where it had healed there was a lump underneath as in inside his mouth but it has got hugely better, no idea if it’s still raggedy inside his mouth or not. For a long while after although you couldn’t see it it did feel lumpy inside when you touched his lip . We were told as lip line it would scar and it has however it isn’t hugely noticeable and weirdly never shows up in photos at all. This was about 4 years ago and it has faded hugely to a very thin slightly silver line but lip completely aligned fine, I have a feeling by the time he is an adult it will be hardly noticeable at all. When he first did it I did find it hard to look at particularly when he ate when you would notice it more but I think that was also down to the trauma of the accident, I am awful with blood and injuries so I found it quite traumatic. We were recommended to rub Vaseline into it once it had healed several times a day to help with scarring which we did but obviously no idea if it made a difference or if it would have healed the same way anyway. My child now is the most vein 12 year old boy you have ever met in your life can’t pass a mirror without him looking at himself and checking how his hair looks and it doesn’t bother him at all.

Thank you so much for your reply I really appreciate it. I’m glad to hear your son has healed up well. That sounds like such a nasty fright! That is really encouraging just got to hope she heals well but I have the words of the first nurse going round my head 🙃 Im really pleased to hear his lip line is ok, that is my main concern, I know a scar is inevitable .