embouchure physical therapy

[dave]

I know there has been some discussion in the past of embouchure damage and how to deal with it, but I couldn't pull up the references.

I played a concert series back in April that led to repeated bruising of my upper lip, due to the amount of percussive, high register playing. I'm no longer a youngster, and the bruising seems to have produced a long-term effect (in high register & endurance). I took the summer light, in fact I did a lot of lip buzzing without mouthpiece, and things turned around, but I managed to bruise it again after about two months of regular playing, and had to drop out of the last concert.

If anyone has some words of advice I would welcome them.

BTW, my practice is mostly technical, lip slurs and long tones. What kills my lip is sustained high register and lots of dynamics, attacks, etc. i.e. stuff I tend not to overdo in practice but can't get away from in concert. The repertoire we play includes orchestral transcriptions, marches and symphonic band music that has sustained high register playing.

Dave

[Roger Lewis]

You need to get with your physician first, then with a PROFESSIONAL teacher. Trying to diagnose this condition and its causes without seeing you play is impossible. I would say that you are probably substituting mouthpiece pressure for air volume, but that is just a guess. You need to get with a serious teacher to get help with this.

[TonyZ]

I agree with Roger. If you are pivoting properly (and, of course, using your wind) the upper lip shouldn't be bruised with upper register playing. By upper register, are you referring to strictly above the staff? Just curious.

[dopey]

I believe i have bruised my lips. Just recently. I played bassoon for a very long period, multiple times. This being the first time I had played any sort of woodwind in two years, and first time I played a double reed ...ever.

Needless to say, the other night I noticed my bottom lip looked swollen and felt kinda bruised. It never turned any discoloration however. Ofcourse I backed off the bassoon a bit, I had played it quite a bit for a beginner of the few days prior to noticing this.

I've also had my lip busted open while playing soccer (With braces). This knocked me out of playing for around a week to the point I couldn't play much of anything at all. my range was limited to less then a octave. However, even tho the inside of my lip was cut to shreds, I never had any coloration on the outside of my lips that would make one believe it is bruised.

I guess my point is, i've had my lips to the point/past the point where they should/would bruise and never haev noticed a color. Just tenderness.

The only like I would make between playing and bruising would be if you are changing the way you play when you are being bruised. Kind of how bassoon 'bruised' my lip. I wasnt' used to it, and since I played it for a prolonged period this caused a problem. If when you play these gigs, or in the high range you are doing somehting you normally dont' practice, or practice enough. Your lips may not be used to this and this would could cause the bruising. If at all possible i'd find a instructor of some kind and have them work with you to find our what your doing and what your not.r

[dave]

I'm sure others have been through this, I was hoping to hear how they worked around it. You hear so many stories about similar problems that caused someone to stop playing for a few months to let his lips recover.

By bruising, I mean tenderness/soreness that lasts several days after playing. The cumulative effect after several episodes is reduced endurance and high register. By high register, I mean high F's up through Bb or C. I can play an effortless high Bb when I start playing, without pressure, but after a lot of sustained playing the lip gets tired. When I am practicing I quit at that point or move to lower register playing.

I'd like to find a good teacher in the SF Bay area.

-Dave