Lip Injury Prevention?

[steevihn]

As a music student, I'm constantly bombarded with directions to change how I hold and use instruments. As a result of these changes, I feel that I'm even more susceptible to injuries now than ever before. Recently, my inner-lower lip callus has been giving me a lot of trouble. It hurts to play even at times, with the majority of the discomfort coming as soon as the horn leaves my mouth and my lips go back to their resting state.
This has happened a few times before, and after not playing at all for a few days my lip was able to heal just enough for me to reapply pressure to it. I feel like the aspects of my practice that are the most crucial are causing possible long term damage to the tissue in my mouth.
Have people ever bitten through their entire lip?
Advice on preserving my chops?
Ideas on why this is happening?
Quick fixes?

 

[Steve]

Back in High School .. just a couple years ago, I used to practice probably 3-4 hours a day (saxophone mainly) .. Monday thru Friday.
Back then before I started having a private teacher I would bite ALOT.
So much so that my lower teeth actually did cut through the skin and at times I would bleed.
With the private teacher she taught me alot about the looseness of the embouchure. At times she would flick the neck away while I was playing to make sure I wasn't biting. I then was able to readjust my embouchure for upwards pressure of the mpc to the upper teeth (saxophone).

On clarinet I also at times would bite too. But with clarinet it became more obvious that the embouchure itself was different. You need to push your lip out towards the mpc and not up - amongst those teaching that embouchure. This required more jaw movement outwards, which is weird at first. But it also eliminated alot of the effects of biting too, and opened the throat, put the lower lip at a better position on the mpc which allowed it to play better, etc etc etc ..

So the first question is how is your embouchure? Are you biting and bending the reed and closing the reed a bit, or what is going one with the mechanics where you are causing a heavy pressure on your inner lower lip ?

In these instances it is better to visually see as descriptions can be difficult .... thus a private teacher should be able to correct issues.

oh yeah, I nearly forgot .. I started using thin cigarette paper on my lower teeth to act as a cushion. There are various other materials out there that can help on this too.

 

[steevihn]

My embouchure is correct. My private instructor and I have worked to try to discover what the problem is, but we haven't had any sort of break throughs. Maybe my bottom teeth are too sharp? The pressure is "correct". I don't every have any tone production, intonation, or reed issues due to it. I guess I wouldn't really be able to tell if I had too much pressure involved.

 

[jbtsax]

I feel your pain. Having quite sharp and somewhat jagged lower teeth I too used to suffer from abrasions to the inside of my lower lip after playing for extended periods of time. I used to use paper and patches cut out of rubber balloons to provide a cushion between the teeth and lip. Several years ago a professional clarinet player/woodwind doubler turned me on to Ezo Denture Cushions. They are available at any pharmacy.

You cut out an oval shape large enough to go over the bottom teeth where they contact the lip. Then you soak the patch in hot water for several seconds. When the wax in the cushion is soft and flexible you insert the patch in your mouth and use your fingers to mold it over your teeth. When the wax cools a bit and sets you have a custom made dental cushion to protect your lip. I generally make up two or three at a time and put them in a small plastic container in my sax case.

 

[SOTSDO]

...and then he goes out to yell at the neighborhood kids to get off of his lawn.

Seriously, this is a two component problem. One is the condition of your lower teeth (and upper teeth, for that matter - I have a damaged canine that periodically "catches" my upper lip during chewing - I have to watch out for biting down on that thin upper lip as well). The other is your relationship with the mouthpiece and reed.

The damaged teeth issue is something to raise with your dentist. He might recommend touching the very sharp edges of the teeth with a polishing bit in a dental handpiece. You lose a little tooth that way, but you gain in not lacerating yourself when you play.

(My teeth are extensively damaged from mine explosions over in RVN. (We used to clear the road shoulders each morning by driving down them with a tank track off to the side. It was fast, but the price paid was the occasional mine hit. All of my molars suffer cracking damage, as did my incisors. Fortunately, I have two dentists who play in my band...)

However, I would first question the mouthpiece and reed combination. Trying to play with too hard a reed can make for a "biting" problem that might be alieveated with a softer reed and a more open facing.

Look at it this way - if you play a hard reed and a closer lay mouthpiece, you are (in effect) condeming yoursefl to trying to control things with a very limited range of motion vis a vis the hard reed and close lay. Moving to a softer reed and more open lay gives you a lot more scope for control, and not always having to bend an unyielding plank to a very fine tolerance.

Put another way, I used to play on Selmer C and C* mouthpieces on my bass clarinet, continuing the traditional 3 1/2 strength reed that I had used since high school. However, once I moved to a Selmer G lay (yes, you can actually buy such a thing) and a 2 1/2 strength reed, my life was a bed of roses, plus I upped my volume while still keeping tone quality and intonation.

I realize that changing mouthpieces is not a good loop to get into, but breaking free of the "It's got to be hard as hell or it's not good" syndrome with reeds is something most players should try at least once. I did the same on baritone, and it made my life a whole lot easier. Plus, with an open lay, you can really lay into scoops and dips, adding to the fun