Split lip

[Trumpet^12^]

So I was golfing with my family and got smoked in the chops with a golf ball splitting my top lip open It didn’t knock any teeth out or cut through to the inside. It has healed pretty good but there is a small scar and a tiny bit of scar tissue right where my embouchure is. I stared back playing a tiny bit. My lower register sounds good but I can’t play anything high since. Any suggestions ??

[Robert P]

Sorry to hear about your injury - I would direct you to a doctor to see what can be done.

How long ago was it? How did it happen? I assume that must put you in a fairly small club or is it more common than I realize?
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Sorry to hear about your injury. If at all possible, try to find a doctor who is a trumpet player or has treated similar injuries to embouchure. A dentist can be also of help as embouchure is adjacent to the area where they would work on.

[bach_again]

Hard to say, not having a medical background or knowing the extent of your injury - the advice above to seek a doctor and/or someone sympathetic to trumpet playing is good.

If it hasn't split through it's still possible you will be dealing with scar tissue, swelling and maybe nerve damage. So time off the horn is the safest advice.

I split my lip when I was a kid (top, left - right where the rim of the mpc sits). I had been playing a few years. It was split in half from tip to most of the way to my nose - I fell on my face and my incisors went through it. I can still distinctly remember the feeling of it being sewn together. Not pleasant!

It was a great excuse not to practice at the time I know I didn't play for a few months, 2-3 I'm sure. It felt really weird when I came back to it too, that first week or so was rather unpleasant. I did try to play earlier but it felt really wrong so I stopped.

I wasn't a strong player as a kid, so I can't comment on whether or not it messed up my playing much. I remember it made note production quite hard for a while... it didn't want to vibrate, but it was just a memory soon enough.

When you go back I would encourage you not to try to immediately play as you used - take a week just doing short and very light sessions. Playing the leadpipe, Schlossberg p1 played soft, Clarke 1 down low. Try Clarke's very staccato and soft as well, this helps focus the aperture.

I hope you heal up fast and find your feet again!

Mike
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[Shaft]

Fellow splitlip recipient here.
So sorry to hear about your lip.

Depending on the severity it can take months or years.
Time is your ally. Vibration of the lips can affect things as you heal.

SUPERFICIALLY

For example picture your layers of tissue. They need to be allowed to reconnect and create a strong bond with the cells around them.

Depending on where the split is. There is a layer that goes laterally and layers that stack on top of each other and layers that go front to back under the middle of the top lip.

INDICATOR OF NEW LIP TISSUE GROWTH

Vitamin E helps. If you drink water or brush your teeth and see “white gooey” substance then that is “new lip cells and tissue” let it dry. It can be hard to abstain from peeling a layer of new growth off during the day but you will see that it will just have to start over and regrow again.

During the evening when your lips are closed and touching for 6-9 hours you will wakeup and see that they have been healing. (Hopefully)

INSIDE MEMBRANE SPLIT

If your split is a whitish line up the inside of the membrane which faces the teeth then time is your friend and you will not be seeing the layers of lip tissue regrow and reconnect but you will still need time to allow the mass to heal and recover. Hopefully that white line goes away. Playing while this part is injured is not an ally to healing.

ANTI BIOTIC

If you feel that it is as serious as an open wound a doctor may need to prescribe an anti-biotic. In this case a person would be quite a risk taker to even think of playing the horn.

TIME OFF GIGS

If you are a gigging trumpet player I would highly recommend lining up a sub.

Unless of course you want develop adverse compansating habits and continue to play injured for months or years; Neither of which makes music enjoyable.

[cheiden]

From stories I've heard you need to be VERY patient. Stressing this area before you are healed has the potential to do lasting damage. I'd say that you should stop playing entirely and then rebuild very very slowly, stopping anytime you're tempted to bear down.
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[Trumpet^12^]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

[ericmpena]

I’ve had scar tissue on my top lip for about 15 years.

If I play over it for long periods of time (4+ hours in a day) it’ll open back up, even though it’ll look and feel 100% healed. It’s never really going to be back to normal, at least in my case.

I’ve had to move my mouthpiece slightly to the left to avoid placing the rim over my scar tissue.

Ideally I think I could play better with my mouthpiece more centered, but since that would place the rim on my scar tissue, I’ve learned to play slightly off centered and still play well enough to make a living.
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[Craig Swartz]

You give no indication of your experience, or what you consider "high" or "low", but I'm assuming you are a student player of some type.
I can't speak to your injury but I developed a cold sore last week while playing a run of Little Shop of Horrors. For those who've played the show, the range is moderate with several F's and G's above "high C", plus a number of "squeezes from first space F to E above "high C". Not a pile of long dance numbers but some face time and a need to be prepard. No way to hire a sub up here so had to do the best I could, knowing there was no way to just stay off of it and let it heal. (Second part was being played by a bang-up chick trombone player friend, so switching with her wasn't an option, either.) After the show closed I took 3 days off and am now back to a fairly normal routine. The healing part was essential.

Something not often considered when these problems pop up are the effects the injury, and the pain of having to play on it have on other aspects of playing. Loss of confidence, especially on initial responses/attacks, withholding proper breathing to attempt to compensate for the pain that's coming, drawing the embouchure ever more tight or rigid to try to lessen the pain, overcompensating in many aspects to attempt to retain the normal sound and feedback, less concentration on actually making music in the proper style, on and on.

I've not had one of these things in some time, for a while I could count on about one per orch season. I'm not sure what kind of advice the OP is really seeking, but I really did nothing other than let things heal, and when I felt better, I got my face back on the mouthpiece and started in again, for as long as I felt comfortable. Today was day three of coming back after the sore, and I've played about 2 hours so far with no ill effects, with strength and endurance returning quite well.

I guess if it hurts while you do that- don't do that... until it doesn't. All the best.