Sore on gourami's cheek?

Question

For the past few days I have been keeping an eye on my dwarf gourami because he has a sore-thing on the side of his face. Its hard to explain how it looks, but when he eats and such it looks like his mouth is a bit lopsided and kind of swollen on one side. There is redness on the side of his face where it is, however.

Some things about the tank, because they might be asked:

My tank was cycled before I got this fish and I have had the fish for 5 months already. His tank-mates are a clown pleco and six ghost shrimp.

Here are some pictures:

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k168/itsHEIDIyo/gourami-3.png

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k168/itsHEIDIyo/gourami1-2.png

I know it looks cloudy, its just that my camera isn't feeling well today.

The last picture makes me so sad, it seems as if he's saying, "Look at my owie"

Is there anything I can do about this, because I really love my fish and I wanna do anything I can for him.

Thanks. I'll stick around to provide more information, if needed.

Answer 1

I can't offer you a "for sure" diagnosis, but what I can offer you is some tips to help clear whatever is going on there on his face.  First, you should probably do a water change.  Very clean water helps with healing.  Second, by the looks of him, it might be a good idea to get him an antibiotic.  What he has looks kind of like an abscess.  If anything, it's definitely infected.  Sores on the mouth are extremely worrisome because they tend to cause a fish to stop feeding.  You can either get an antibiotic you add right to the water, or you can get some of that antibiotic food they sell.  If he isn't eating, definitely get the kind you put in the water.  Frequent water changes are crucial during the duration of treatment and healing.  You might also try adding some salt to the water.  Salt helps disinfect and offers some relief from swelling and pain, both of which I'm sure he's experiencing.

Don't hesitate.  Procuring an antibiotic quickly will raise the chances of your fish making a full recovery.  

I hope this helps!

EDIT

If your water is in pristine shape, it's possible that he scratched himself on something.  Think of how fast our scratches would get infected if our p**p and pee, and the p**p and pee of others, could float up and touch it.  I bet a round of antibiotics will make a world of difference and he'll be happy again!  Good luck!