Finally ... a treatment that works.
Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:04 pm
I began playing again in 2004 and have suffered all these years with a lip problem that I just could not get any relief from. Anytime I played my lips would be raw afterwards and would not heal back quickly. After trying all sorts of lip balms and different materials for the mouthpiece rim ( execpt Lexan) I finally gave up and resigned myself to only playing on my regular band night and one maybe 2 rehersals a week ... if I could stand it.
I have finally hit upon a regime that works and I want to share it in the hopes that it help someone else. 4 years I ago I went to a dermatologist and he could find nothing wrong but reccomended Dr. Dan's lip balm ( http://www.drdanslipbalm.com/" target="_blank ). It worked ok but you can't use it everyday or mutiple times a day. So I quite using it and would use Burts Bees as needed. That was once or twice a day,sometimes more.But that wasn't enough. It just got me from Monday rehersal to Monday rehersal. Anything in between was just asking for issues.
I spent most of the last six months of last year hardly practicing and barely being able to play much less play well because of it. I wanted to change that this year and started to try different things and am now practicing at least 4 nights a week and my regular Monday night band rehersal.
Here's what has made the difference. After I finish playing I use Dr. Dans. I only use it immediatly after playing. During the day I use the Burts Bees. I only need that a couple of times a day. The final element was the rim material. I have been using a Doug Elliot setup since last year but with a standard silver plated rim. I bought a Lexan rim from him this year in D.C. at the Army Tuba/Euph workshop and have been using it since. It seemed to really do the trick . These 3 things have allowed me to "deal" with the issue as it hasn't really gotten rid of it. My lips still get raw. Just not as much and I can get them to heal in about 8 hours or so and now playing several days in a row is no problem.
I'm not going to say it's a metal allergy issue as I've had goldplated as well as stainless steel mouthpieces and they didn't help. I think this Lexan is just much more comfortable to play on and just doesn't seem to tear up my lips as much. I like the way it feels warm all the time too.
As a side note ... I liked the LOUD stainless steel mouthpiece a lot. I think stainless steel is a better material than brass and lives up to all the perfromance claims LOUD,G&W and others make about it. But I moved on to a larger size and gave up my LOUD. Someday when I have the cash I'm gonna get Doug Elliot to make the one I am using now in stainless steel with the Lexan rim.
I have finally hit upon a regime that works and I want to share it in the hopes that it help someone else. 4 years I ago I went to a dermatologist and he could find nothing wrong but reccomended Dr. Dan's lip balm ( http://www.drdanslipbalm.com/" target="_blank ). It worked ok but you can't use it everyday or mutiple times a day. So I quite using it and would use Burts Bees as needed. That was once or twice a day,sometimes more.But that wasn't enough. It just got me from Monday rehersal to Monday rehersal. Anything in between was just asking for issues.
I spent most of the last six months of last year hardly practicing and barely being able to play much less play well because of it. I wanted to change that this year and started to try different things and am now practicing at least 4 nights a week and my regular Monday night band rehersal.
Here's what has made the difference. After I finish playing I use Dr. Dans. I only use it immediatly after playing. During the day I use the Burts Bees. I only need that a couple of times a day. The final element was the rim material. I have been using a Doug Elliot setup since last year but with a standard silver plated rim. I bought a Lexan rim from him this year in D.C. at the Army Tuba/Euph workshop and have been using it since. It seemed to really do the trick . These 3 things have allowed me to "deal" with the issue as it hasn't really gotten rid of it. My lips still get raw. Just not as much and I can get them to heal in about 8 hours or so and now playing several days in a row is no problem.
I'm not going to say it's a metal allergy issue as I've had goldplated as well as stainless steel mouthpieces and they didn't help. I think this Lexan is just much more comfortable to play on and just doesn't seem to tear up my lips as much. I like the way it feels warm all the time too.
As a side note ... I liked the LOUD stainless steel mouthpiece a lot. I think stainless steel is a better material than brass and lives up to all the perfromance claims LOUD,G&W and others make about it. But I moved on to a larger size and gave up my LOUD. Someday when I have the cash I'm gonna get Doug Elliot to make the one I am using now in stainless steel with the Lexan rim.