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My lips are permanently chapped . They just will not heal .
This all stared when I picked the euph. and started to play again after 20 plus years of not playing. I have been playing now for about 2 years. They only time I get any relieve is when I don't play for very long periods . A couple of weeks or more . Since I bought my own horn in Feb. I practice more then ever. It was bad then but since I switched from the 61/2 AL mouthpiece to the Schilke 51D it has gotten worse. I have been using A&D ointnement for a year now. It was helping a lot but since the mouthpiece change it dosen't seem to be helping at all.

What do you suggest ?

D.C.T. it's Daily Care treatment by blistex. it comes in a little two ounce cream colored container marked D.C.T. they use it in drum corps and i use it all the time and it keeps my lips moist. It works very well i think. when i feel that it is off my lips or at least not at the amount i want just put a little more on there and it keeps workin and feels good too plus it has vitamin E in it and from what my corps instructors told me that is like steroids for lips.

other than D.C.T. lotion?

I'm permanently addicted to chapstick, so I know where you're coming from somewhat. I suggest you drink lots and lots more water every day. I'm sure you've heard it before, but it really works best. Plus try to use a lip balm that doesn't contain too many chemicals, and those tend to dry out even more after they evaporate. Maybe since the MP switch you are using more air, and that is drying out your mouth/lips more? I still think drinking more water will help a lot.

You need this:

Vitamin E


Take a good bit each day.

Also try:

Fish Oil


And...

Water


Many folks are dehydrated and their diet depletes them of helpful fats and oils. If this doesn't apply to you, well then I'm sure someone out there can find this useful.

Yeah. Vitamin E, water and Blistex, (just the regular stuff.) D.C.T. and a break is what you need right now, that's true. But once you get back in shape use the above mentioned three to keep your chops moist. Blistex is the professional's secret here.

bloke wrote:I'm assuming that you have no allergies to metal ...

That is another possibility, of course -- an allergy to silver (or gold). If the above (very good) advice doesn't do the job, you might want to consider a Kelly 51D. They're available in all three shank sizes (just checked).

Hope this helps!

I second the suggestion to try a Kelly mouthpiece - they are not very expensive.

I'm sure the Blistex suggestions are good ones, but I prefer Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm. It is my understanding (and I may be wrong) that it does not have the ingredients found in some other products that can lead to an "addiction" (when your lips stop producing their own moisturizer).

Drink water. Then drink some more water. And keep petroleum products away from your face. I recommend KY jelly if you absolutely must lubricate the lips, but using nothing is better. Keeping the inside hydrated will keep the ouside from cracking up.

I'd recommend seeing a dermatologist.

Cracked and bleeding lips are not always due to dehydration. An oboe player I know ( ) had a similar problem. Turned out to be a fungus--required an antifungal ointment with antibiotics and a topic steriod.

anyone ever try this? www.chopsaver.com

I totally agree with the Burt's Beeswax. Chapstick and Blistex both contain camphor, which although it may moisturize the lips at first, as it evaporates, it makes the lips even dryer than before, thus creating the addiction mentioned above. Burt's Beeswax is 100% natural and contains only stuff like coconut oil, peppermint oil, etc. The first time I used it I noticed a huge difference in my lips the very next day. They were much smoother and the cracks I had from chapping were virtually gone. It's great stuff.

http://www.burtsbees.com

i beg to differ on the Blistex thing yes many of their products do but D.C.T. does not have camphor in it that is why it's so popular in the drum corps world that and it is like a sun block too and it also has vitamin E in it. i've used D.C.T. for two years when i marched DCI and it always kept my lips nice and smooth. that and i took the Vitamin E caplets and poked a hole in them and put that on my lips just like you would chap stick or any other kind of lip balm. it works really well. The told us to do that becuase it had a more direct contact with the lips. It helped

But thats just my two cents

Josh Wagner

***

I agree on the see a doctor thing....could be something different than "just" chapped lips.
If you get a clean bill of health, what Bloke said. And the Kelly.

I like Burt's Bees the best, but have not tried Preparation H which some people swear by. It is white though and best used overnight.

With large mouthpieces I have found that sometimes my lip gets chapped after playing for two hours...and not where the metal contacts the lip either. If I played tuba daily I might have your problem, but to date the only lip problems I have are from horn. Switching to a gold rim helped that a lot. I thought I had a cold sore all the time in one place on my lip, but it was irritation from the rim. (lost out on a lotta kissing for a while, and for no good reason either!)

Waiting for the inevitable jokes,
MA

MaryAnn wrote:I like Burt's Bees the best, but have not tried Preparation H which some people swear by. It is white though and best used overnight.

I also know of people who swear by Preparation H. I assume that it does something to shrink the blood vessels, helping the player feel less tired after playing for a long time.

I'm not a doctor, but it seems to me that there is no way that could be a healthy thing to do on a regular basis.

burt's works for me because my lips are not bad at all.


HOWEVER,
try rubbing cocoa butter on your lips overnight
unlike chapstick which just covers the skin,
cocoa butter gets into the skin and i believe provides vitimin e
my high school band director always told us to do this over using chapstick

MaryAnn wrote:but have not tried Preparation H which some people swear by. It is white though and best used overnight.

I'd never use that. Not even a passing thought.

Preparation H wrote: Warnings
For external and/or intrarectal use only

Link

I though at some point there was a warning about oral use, but I cannot find it online.

Still, who would think to put a rectal cream near their mouth?

Lots of good suggestions being given out here . I have tried some of them and here are the results so far :



- The most common sense thing is to do is to stop playing long enough for the lips to heal. The most practical and also the hardest to do . Even the oldbandnerd needs his woodshedding time !!!

- Water .... I drink a lot anway so dehydration is not an issue. I was on the Atkins diet for 1 1/2 year and this is the only good habit that I managed to retain after going off the diet. I prefer to drink water over softdrinks or tea. If I wanted to drink anymore I would have to grow gills .


- Blistex DLT ....it worked fairly good. It helped give some relief until it dissapeared . Probably a good mantainece item but not helping me to heal up.


- Burts Beeswax ... of all the O.T.C. type solutions this has done the most . My lips felt better as soon as I put it on. It lasted a long time and did not leave mys dry when it wore off. I could do without the peppermint oil though. It stings at first. It also seem to be helping to heal.

- Vaseline and Aloe.... AAAAAHHHHHH ...Relief..... That feels good. It is really slimy having this crap (vaseline ) on my lips but it holds the moisture in and fills the cracks so they stop hurting. I have also been using the Aloe . I am not sure if it is helping any . I just started today with these two so I don't know for sure if this will do the trick but it looks good so far.