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Shoe
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Joined: 06 Mar 2016
Posts: 26
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 Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 5:29 pm Post subject: Severe lip injury help |
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Hello all,
6 days ago I fell and hit my face, and it pushed my bottom teeth into my lip. This caused a giant hole in my lip, conveniently exactly where my teeth touch my lips when I play. I had mandatory rehersals and performances (junior college trumpet major) until yesterday and was forced to play on it. Now, it'd a rather large hole , and hurts severely, to the point where I can not play at all, and I have been instructed to not play at all.
Does anyone know a remedy to help this heal quicker? I can't afford to miss any more playing time than I have too. Plus, I was practicing like 4 hours a day, and now I don't know what to do with my time and would like to be able to practice again. |
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Ed Kennedy
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Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 3187
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| You have to let it heal. Do yoga and work on your breathing. Go to the gym and do strength and aerobic work. Listen to lots of great music and great players. If you are a jazzer transcribe solos and work on the piano. That should keep you out of trouble. |
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oxleyk
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Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 4180
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Trumpet majors still have to play piano, right? Put the trumpet away and practice piano until your lip heals. You're only causing more damage by playing. Get a note from a physician if necessary. This is no different than an athlete dealing with a sports injury. |
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chrisneverve
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Joined: 28 Mar 2014
Posts: 29
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 10:06 pm Post subject: Keep it clean |
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| Keep it clean! Take some vitamins. Use a good chapstick, non-medicated. Get plenty of sleep. When you think it is safe to play, give it a few more days just to be safe. Best of luck. |
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Denny Schreffler
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Joined: 14 Apr 2005
Posts: 390
Location: Tucson
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 10:47 pm Post subject: Re: Severe lip injury help |
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| Shoe wrote: | | ... I had mandatory rehersals and performances (junior college trumpet major) until yesterday and was forced to play on it. ... |
Did you tell/show your trumpet teacher and conductor(s) that you had suffered an injury to your embouchure; that you could not play on it without risk of causing more and potentially more-serious damage; and that a sub would be required for the upcoming reh's and performances?
If "mandatory" and "forced to play" mean that you were required to play irrespective of injury and that there would be consequences if you didn't, you're with the wrong teacher at the wrong school.
-Denny |
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Brad361
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Joined: 16 Dec 2007
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Location: Houston, TX.
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:23 am Post subject: Re: Severe lip injury help |
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| Denny Schreffler wrote: | | Shoe wrote: | | ... I had mandatory rehersals and performances (junior college trumpet major) until yesterday and was forced to play on it. ... |
Did you tell/show your trumpet teacher and conductor(s) that you had suffered an injury to your embouchure; that you could not play on it without risk of causing more and potentially more-serious damage; and that a sub would be required for the upcoming reh's and performances?
If "mandatory" and "forced to play" mean that you were required to play irrespective of injury and that there would be consequences if you didn't, you're with the wrong teacher at the wrong school.
-Denny |
This.
No rehearsals, performances, etc. are worth permanently damaging yourself. Many of us have been in your situation or something similar, LET IT HEAL.
I had a much less severe injury as a college freshman music major, with a similar practice/rehearsal and gig schedule. What would have been a brief interruption in my playing turned into months of problems, because I didn’t LET IT HEAL. I have a small scar (which luckily doesn’t affect my playing at all) to show for it, that was in 1972.
LET IT......I think you get the point here.
Brad
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JetJaguar
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 7:23 am Post subject: |
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You weren't taking a selfie when you fell, were you?
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Shoe
Regular Member
Joined: 06 Mar 2016
Posts: 26
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:27 am Post subject: Re: Severe lip injury help |
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| Brad361 wrote: | | Denny Schreffler wrote: | | Shoe wrote: | | ... I had mandatory rehersals and performances (junior college trumpet major) until yesterday and was forced to play on it. ... |
Did you tell/show your trumpet teacher and conductor(s) that you had suffered an injury to your embouchure; that you could not play on it without risk of causing more and potentially more-serious damage; and that a sub would be required for the upcoming reh's and performances?
If "mandatory" and "forced to play" mean that you were required to play irrespective of injury and that there would be consequences if you didn't, you're with the wrong teacher at the wrong school.
-Denny |
This.
No rehearsals, performances, etc. are worth permanently damaging yourself. Many of us have been in your situation or something similar, LET IT HEAL.
I had a much less severe injury as a college freshman music major, with a similar practice/rehearsal and gig schedule. What would have been a brief interruption in my playing turned into months of problems, because I didn’t LET IT HEAL. I have a small scar (which luckily doesn’t affect my playing at all) to show for it, that was in 1972.
LET IT......I think you get the point here.
Brad |
I don't like to complain, so I just kept going. I had a few rehersals and a recording session for a piece that i had agreed to months ago, and ddnt want to cause the whole ensemble to have to reschedule. I also had some school recitals for grades that I just wanted to get done and were not easily moved to a new date. So I just finished my recitals and whatnot and showed my prof. He also freaked out and told me to stop playing, so don't blame him!
I am also not playing, going on day two of no horn. It just seems to be not healing even with not playing.
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Shoe
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Joined: 06 Mar 2016
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| jetjaguar wrote: | | You weren't taking a selfie when you fell, were you? |
No?
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wohlrab
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:10 am Post subject: Re: Severe lip injury help |
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[quote/] I don't like to complain, so I just kept going. I had a few rehersals and a recording session for a piece that i had agreed to months ago, and ddnt want to cause the whole ensemble to have to reschedule. I also had some school recitals for grades that I just wanted to get done and were not easily moved to a new date. So I just finished my recitals and whatnot and showed my prof. He also freaked out and told me to stop playing, so don't blame him!
I am also not playing, going on day two of no horn. It just seems to be not healing even with not playing.[/quote]
Dog. I hear what you're saying. And your attitude is commendable, but come on. If it was a huge issue, you can always hire a sub. I don't think anyone would blame you for that considering your injury. I know it seems like a big deal to play these gigs.. But in the long run, honestly it's just not. College is just a couple years of a playing career that I assume you want to go on decades. Try and keep it in perspective. Lives aren't on the line but your embouchure might be. (seriously). Maybe to you I sound dramatic, but you're acting foolish.
"I don't like to complain." You need to learn to put self preservation ahead of machismo.
You say you have a hole in your lip and you expect it to heal in just two days??? The body takes time to heal! You might be off the horn for a few weeks AND THAT'S OKAY!! |
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cheiden
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:19 am Post subject: |
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If it hasn't been said, not letting an injury this significant heal properly could end or compromise your trumpet playing for life. This is a big deal. That tissue has to heal and heal well if it's going to tolerate the abuse trumpet playing requires. I'd be surprised if it resolves in a little as a couple of weeks.
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MF Fan
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:41 am Post subject: |
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| cheiden wrote: | | If it hasn't been said, not letting an injury this significant heal properly could end or compromise your trumpet playing for life. This is a big deal. That tissue has to heal and heal well if it's going to tolerate the abuse trumpet playing requires. I'd be surprised if it resolves in a little as a couple of weeks. |
If it were me, I'd see a doctor. There are numerous prescription-only medications that would help protect the wound, avoid infection, etc. A mouth sore can be hard to heal given you need to eat and it's constantly exposed to whatever is floating around in the air. An infection could result in permanent damage.
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Brad361
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Joined: 16 Dec 2007
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Location: Houston, TX.
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:50 pm Post subject: Re: Severe lip injury help |
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| Shoe wrote: | | Brad361 wrote: | | Denny Schreffler wrote: | | Shoe wrote: | | ... I had mandatory rehersals and performances (junior college trumpet major) until yesterday and was forced to play on it. ... |
Did you tell/show your trumpet teacher and conductor(s) that you had suffered an injury to your embouchure; that you could not play on it without risk of causing more and potentially more-serious damage; and that a sub would be required for the upcoming reh's and performances?
If "mandatory" and "forced to play" mean that you were required to play irrespective of injury and that there would be consequences if you didn't, you're with the wrong teacher at the wrong school.
-Denny |
This.
No rehearsals, performances, etc. are worth permanently damaging yourself. Many of us have been in your situation or something similar, LET IT HEAL.
I had a much less severe injury as a college freshman music major, with a similar practice/rehearsal and gig schedule. What would have been a brief interruption in my playing turned into months of problems, because I didn’t LET IT HEAL. I have a small scar (which luckily doesn’t affect my playing at all) to show for it, that was in 1972.
LET IT......I think you get the point here.
Brad |
I don't like to complain, so I just kept going. I had a few rehersals and a recording session for a piece that i had agreed to months ago, and ddnt want to cause the whole ensemble to have to reschedule. I also had some school recitals for grades that I just wanted to get done and were not easily moved to a new date. So I just finished my recitals and whatnot and showed my prof. He also freaked out and told me to stop playing, so don't blame him!
I am also not playing, going on day two of no horn. It just seems to be not healing even with not playing. |
I get that, I had a very similar situation with a much less severe injury. You need to be realistic, two days of not playing (and not further aggravating the problem, which you probably did) is nothing.
See a doc, relax, consider the big picture (the rest of your trumpet playing life) and don’t touch the horn, at least for now. If your prof freaked out and said stop playing, stop playing until it’s healed. It’s TEMPORARY, unless YOU MAKE IT PERMANENT!
Brad
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Andy Del
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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Taking what has been written above into account, the OP has acted like an idiot. That's it, pure and simple.
An injury is an injury. If it makes one unfit for trumpet playing / work / duty / college / school / preschool finger painting / etc. then one is unfit to do the activity. To continue on, with such asinine comments as, 'I don't like to complain', only lends weight to my thought.
I know sound harsh, but unless the lesson is learnt right now, this is truely Darwinism at work!
cheers
Andy
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Brad361
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| Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 3:44 am Post subject: |
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| Andy Del wrote: | Taking what has been written above into account, the OP has acted like an idiot. That's it, pure and simple.
An injury is an injury. If it makes one unfit for trumpet playing / work / duty / college / school / preschool finger painting / etc. then one is unfit to do the activity. To continue on, with such asinine comments as, 'I don't like to complain', only lends weight to my thought.
I know sound harsh, but unless the lesson is learnt right now, this is truely Darwinism at work!
cheers
Andy |
Ouch.
I totally agree that you have to get a perspective and back off playing when something like this happens, but I can also understand how we can become so wrapped up in an activity that we don’t do what we know we should do, be it music, sports, etc. If the OP now realizes that, hopefully he will recover without permanent damage.
Brad
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"I always try, but not always, because the horn is merciless, unpredictable and traitorous." - Arturo Sandoval |
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Vin DiBona
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| Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:01 am Post subject: |
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Two of the greatest players to put a trumpet to their faces had serious, career threatening lip injuries: Rafael Mendez (two of them) and Bud Herseth.
The subsequent infection after first injury Mendez suffered took a couple years to heal and only after a drastic procedure. He said he never never did get his his range back. The second injury occurred when he was accidentally struck in the mouth by a baseball bat swung by an enthusiastic youngster.
Herseth's legendary injury was after the auto accident in which his lower teeth to go through his bottom lip. It took six weeks for him to come back yet the feeling never came back to his lower lip.
Both took time off to heal and they were already world-class players. I agree with Andy Del. There is just too much molly-coddling today. What the young player did was not smart and could have resulted in more damage.
Let it heal!
R. Tomasek |
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Brad361
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| Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Vin DiBona wrote: | ...... I agree with Andy Del. There is just too much molly-coddling today. What the young player did was not smart and could have resulted in more damage.
Let it heal!
R. Tomasek |
While I agree that trying to play on an injury like the OP described was poor judgment, I also think that “young player” is germane to this discussion.
I don’t know about anyone else, but as a kid (meaning under 25) I used poor judgment more than once. Yes, there is absolutely too much molly-coddling in 2019 society, I’m not sure that applies here though.
But I agree with “Let it heal!”
Brad
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TrpPro
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| Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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You got 2 choices.
Let the injury heal completely before practicing again and
Let the injury heal completely before practicing again. |
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Mike Sailors
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| Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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Get in touch with Rich Willey. He dealt with something similar.
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lipshurt
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| Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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So just getting it straight.....
You hurt your lip, and there a huge hole.....
And then you were able to do a recording session?
That kind of means your injury wasn’t too bad.
You should be out of the trouble in a pretty short time, but don’t push it. If you can’t play, don’t play much or not at all. Try the next day, same thing
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