Chop Help

[tubademon999]

Hi all,

I have a question.
I have recently got a case of severely chapped lips, with a big crack on my bottom lip, and i have an audition on wednesday. I am using medicated blistex, but do you guys have any experience or advice on how to heal these quickly?

thank you very much for all the help,

Cody Kleinhans

[Doug Elliott]

Bite open a vitamin E capsule and put the liquid on it. There's apparently no medical evidence for its effectiveness, but it works as well or better than anything else. Keep it moist with that as much as possible.

[Roger Lewis]

I would also recommend getting away from the Blistex as it can have some negative effects for some folks. I would second Doug's recommendation for the vitamin E. Also, practice. Play softly and do long tones and slow soft scales and let the lip tissue get really well rehydrated. Work in the lower registers of the horn and drink a LOT of water. When you are done practicing put the vitamin E on right away to trap the moisture in the lip tissue.

Don't over do it, but this should help.

All the best.

Roger

[Uncle Buck]

Seriously, this could be an option for occasional (emergency) short-term use.

http://tinyurl.com/2mktx" target="_blank

[bigboom]

I have actually used Neosporin and it made them heal really quick when I was in a college. I always tried not to eat any because I don't know if it's bad to ingest but it worked really fast for me many times.

Ben

[djwesp]

Considering that Medicated Blistex contains Camphor at a .5% concentration, only .5% from some bug sprays, I wouldn't let it anywhere near my lips. This is the same chemical used in embalming fluid, fireworks, and some mothballs.

The anesthetic properties of camphor also make it bad for brass players, because it does not allow you to accurately gauge pain while playing and does not give you the same feedback as when you play "unmedicated".

[mcfolks]

I just finished a week of some very intense playing- 3+ hour rehearsals, with additional sectionals and chamber rehearsals. I used Burts Bees Beeswax Lip Balm right after playing. I was ready to go the next day! I agree with lots of water, too! Keep using it up to going to sleep, and again the first thing in the day. Seems like it lets the lips recover from the inside out (quicker) without splitting or soreness. Worked for me.

[Tubaryan12]

2 things:

1. drink more water
2. petroleum jelly - I personally like the vitamin E and Aloe or medicated. the smell of both stops me from licking my lips, which makes chapped lips worse.

both of these are cheap and work as well as anything else.

[k001k47]

Just to put this in the proper perspective...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVYMBOQxte8

I don't have understand.