Busted Lip

shinytrumpet · Veteran Member Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 151

Hi All,

I was recently practicing quite a bit and wound up knocking a chunk of upper, inner lip as a result. I've been full force preparing for a competition, so I'm not surprised I did something stupid to my lip. On the inside it's scarred and a little painful. The prelims are on Wednesday, October 15th. Is there anything out there that can cure this so I go into the audition unscathed?

Take Care,

Matt
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Jonny Boy · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2003 9:30 am Post subject:

Pain is for a reason. REST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Take a day or two off.

_trumpetgod_02 · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2003 9:32 am Post subject:

Yes, I would recommend waiting until the pain has subsided before picking up the horn again just to ensure that there is not going to be any real damage.
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_FELIX C · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2003 10:06 am Post subject:

HEY FRIEND:
YPOU ARE WORKING TOO HARD IN PRACTICING. TAKE 1 OR 2 DAY OFF. GIVE MASSAGE IN THE LIPS, DO A LOT OF BUZZING IN PEDAL REGISTER. APPLY ZAJA TOPICAL INJURY CHAPSTIC (ARNICA). WHEN YOU BEGIN TO PRACTICE AGAIN DO A LOT OF LONG NOTES AND AFTER PRACTICE WARM DOWN.
BEST WISHES IN THE COMPETION GOD BLESS.
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Emb_Enh · Veteran Member Joined: 29 Oct 2002 Posts: 455

Jonny Boy above is right....take 2 days off..and leave it alone...

good luck for wed! ...we're all rooting for ya!

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roynj · Heavyweight Member Joined: 19 Oct 2002 Posts: 2065

Sorry to say, but I would scratch that competition and take it easy on the lip to avoid longer term problems.

James B. Quick · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2003 8:11 pm Post subject:

On the positive side, mouth and lip tissues are some of the fastest healing parts of the body... jbqd p.s. ditto on the rest...

_Don Herman · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2003 9:24 pm Post subject:

Stay off it. When my chops got busted open by an oar on a rafting trip this summer I pushed it a bit to play an offertory with a visiting friend before they had fully healed. I paid the price. Don't do it.

The good news: despite reasonably severe (but not devastating) damage, they are back and the time off plus forced relaxed restart has me playing better than ever. Meaning, of course, that on a scale of 1-10, 10 being best, I've moved from 1 to 2...

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TopGun · Veteran Member Joined: 17 Mar 2003 Posts: 456

Time off is the only thing that will do the trick. If you are planning on playing on the 15th I MIGHT try to start playing a little on the night of the 13th and do a lot of mental pratice until then. Best of luck.

TopGun

P.S. Come on Don. Your a 10 in my book.

nickyboy · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2003 4:04 pm Post subject:

if your going to do the comp. i would keep fingering the part on your horn and have your mpc in but dont play just tizzle it. also try to tighten your lips to where about they should be for muscle memory. But im not sure how my advice would do im a sophmore in hs and never have busted my chops but defenatly finger the part for muscle memory.

drunkiq · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2003 10:05 am Post subject:

I drew blood once in ages ago in my high school days during a contest, it really sucked.... It was district try outs for all state jazz... it was on the first tune too... I finished out but it was really bad, I would have been better walking away as soon as it happened, besides, it did not get me anywhere in the end...

Remember when coming back after the injury to play often but not for long durations one you are healed...

Yesterday I was praticing the heck out of my horn for some playing I am doing on saturday... I pushed it to far (still recovering from back sugeory and took over 6 weeks off from playing) - It was obvious, I was starting to get a double buzz but pushed on... I was infected by the ID10T virus...

Now, not only does my back hurt (muscles) but I now have two nice cuts on the inside of my upper lip from resorting to pressure when I wore out... I am going to buy some vitiman e gels today, lay off playing for a couple of days and will start playing long tones on Thrusday night...

good luck, it is never fun...

-marc

shinytrumpet · Veteran Member Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 151

Thanks for all your input. Drunkiq, I've been putting on the ole' Vitamin E gell pills on the chops...it works quite well. I pretty much took off Saturday (minus my wedding gig) and Sunday (minus the competition run through with my accompanist). I came back on Monday and I'm feeling quite well. My sound changed though to a brighter tone, which frightened me, but hopefully it'll go back to my thick, dark tone after a while.

The competition pieces I have memorized are chop busters for the most part. I'm playing Malcolm Arnold's "Fantasy for Trumpet," Peeter's Sonata, Aria Mvt., and Hummel Concerto, Rondo movement. I figured I'd throw in the Peeter's Sonata to give my chops a break after the beast. At least the scars on the inside of my lip are gradually healing, and I'm hoping that the Wednesday competition I'll feel great. Once again, thanks for all the advice.

~ Matt

Asian Man · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 1:46 pm Post subject:

I also have a busted lip. apparently i played too much in a short time period and now my lip feels a bit more stiff than it should be like i played trumpet an hour ago...anyway after i found out bout this i was thinking of takin a day off 3 days ago till my new 14A4a mouthpiece came in(it was a month late from mouthpiece express) and i was glad it came and started playin trumpet and i also practiced yesterday so how long untill it fully recovers? a day? hopfully... well i got goddamn marchin band reheasal now and i'm gonna just fake i'm playin.

stradivarius · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 2:45 pm Post subject:

yeah, i busted my lip once as well....take a day or so off, then GRADUALLY get back into playing--like 20 mins a day at first, nothing too strenuous, and STOP when your lip starts to hurt again, soon you'll be just fine again

mfan · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 4:34 pm Post subject:

Sorry I saw this post so late! Here's what always works for me. My private teacher gave me this sheet full of chop maintainence tips. It covers topics like keeping your chops clean, how to prevent and recover from soreness, and also what to do if you get a cut. Here's the cut part:
written by David C. Detwiler
***IF YOU GET A CUT***
Internal- Rinse your mouth out regularly with a light saltwater solution. If you get swelling and it's bad, lay off for a day and ice your chops on the outside.
External- If infected scrub with soap or alcohol, then put an antibiotic cream on it. If it is bad, see a doctor. If you just have a cut, keep it clean and once or twice a day put some vitamin E on the cut. This helps scabs go away faster also.

Hope this helps for future reference! By the way, how'd your audition go?
-Collin

shinytrumpet · Veteran Member Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 151

Well, I can't say that my lip wasn't completely scotch-free for the audition, but it felt damn good. As for the audition (I know this may be the topic for this matter), it went pretty poorly. I took a long walk after the audition and comtemporary ensemble concert, but I must say I've learned quite a bit from this.

1. You need to make a specific approach to auditioning recital-style. If I look back on my practice routine, I would have shaped it a bit differently, and especially listened to recordings of the pieces even more than what I had.

2. I learned that it took a lot of courage for me to do this in the first place. I was up against many string and piano performance majors at Hartt. That and I was the only one auditioning for the brass. As a wind player, it takes a different toll on us when we get nervous, i.e. notes might sound shaky, timbre goes, chops die. Although pianist and stringed instruments have claim to other problems, they don't know what it's like to play a wind instrument, especially when it's unaccompanied.

3. If you have a really challenging piece (in my instance, the Fantasy for Bb Trumpet by Malcolm Arnold), either be prepared to kick that piece's butt or it'll kick yours in. I can't say I flopped it, but the two octave scales got the best of me. So you should always feel proud that you just didn't choose a piece that you could make it easily. In life, it's worth taking risks.

4. Always get plenty of rest. I wish I had more, but the night before I was tossing and turning. You can't always help that.

5. Eat right. You don't want to be belching after a leiter of Coke and three slices of pizza. This wasn't my case since I had a spinach wrap, but I've heard others complain.

6. The day of the recital/audition, try to do absolutely nothing. I listened to my pieces all afternoon while resting, and I think it only made me more nervous and did not help me purge my mind of everything that was in it. Be sure to clear your mind completely before you go in, even if it means praying, meditating, or just a semi-long nap.

I'm sure there are other points I missed, so please feel free to tack them on. Although I'm still pretty depressed over my performance, I still try and keep my head high and move forward. It's made me a better musician overall. That's really more than I can ask for...even more than the $10,000 first place.

~ Matt

PS - (Although $10,000 dollars really isn't bad pocket money...)

drunkiq · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 6:48 pm Post subject:

I think Socrates said:
"true knowledge comes from knowing that you know nothing and in knowing that you know nothing, that makes you the smartest of all."

I think a cartoon when i grew up said:
"knowing is half the battle"

I think Sandra Carey said:
"Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living, the other helps you make a life. ."

Most importatnly I think John Wayne said something like:
"Widom comes from lots of mistakes"

Don't sweat it. The best part is that you learned something from the experiance and are using it to your advantage! A lot of people out there cannot learn anything from a bad experiece, you already have everyone of those people beat out....

oh yeah - don't drink milk before playing (slows down the tounge)

-marc

jamie · Regular Member Joined: 25 Sep 2003 Posts: 77

wow 10 000 for first!!!! oh my god and isn't eally bad pocket money i consider $5 pocket money!!!!!

and is that milk thing really true? milk is about the only thing that i drink.

hey shinytrumpet if you came out better than before, than what is so bad? 10 000 first place would not have made you a better player hey it would give you a boost of confidence but when your confidence isn't all there you do everything now you can do and nothing elese. so you got a good deal and DO NOT be depressed. you can say oh i could have done this or this but it doesn't really matter you did what you could do at the time so be happy with it.

jazztrpt · Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2003 1:38 pm Post subject:

About lip health...up until the last few weeks I have been practicing WAY too hard. I was getting to the point that every day was a struggle to keep playing. Luckily my teacher figured out that I was beating myself up in practice sessions, so he fixed that. He suggested that the best way to practice is to work on a section of an etude or study or scale (whatever you happen to be working on), and then take the same amount of time you just spent working on it off. Work the fingers or go over it in your head to figure out what you can do better next time instead of mashing through it again on the horn. For example, play through one key of a Clarke study, then go through it again, but instead of playing it on the horn, just finger it. In that way you are not only saving your lip, you are also getting better. Practicing is like lifting weights: you need to take the same amount of time off that you work the muscles. That's why it's good to go to the gym with a friend so you can trade off reps. Try practicing with a friend. You play it, then your friend plays it. Tell each other what you can improve on the next rep. It'll give your lip time to rest. You have to force yourself to rest!

On another note...if it was your upper lip that got mashed, you have to start practicing by taking almost all pressure off the upper lip. Your lower lip is much tougher and can take more pressure. The upper lip is the one that needs to vibrate more freely...the lower lip is simply a foundation. Try to transfer the majority of pressure to the lower lip!

Hope this is helpful.

Jon

hazmat · Heavyweight Member Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Posts: 669

Yeah I saw Matt's lip when he busted it. It WAS actually a chunk missing from his lip. So I took him out to buy some Vitamin E which helped a lot.