Klarinet Archive - Posting 000009.txt from 1993/03

From: sabinson%bruc2.hepnet@-----.BITNET
Subj: Canker Sores
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1993 16:40:19 -0500

Hi.

This is my first message to the List. I have been lurking from the
beginning. I am a very amateur clarinetist, but I will say more about
myself some other time. This afternoon a French horn player on the list
HOLISTIC asked for suggestions on getting rid of canker sores. The
following is what I said. I present it to KLARINET in order to see if the
advice I gave is off base or not.

Eric
sabinson%bruc2.hepnet@-----.gov
sabinson@-----.br

---Included Message---

> This is a desperate plea to anyone with a suggestion to get rid of canker
> sores on the tongue. I am a French horn player and I have many important
> performances coming up. My tongue is literally covered with sores my
> doctor says are stress related. Since I do not feel any more stressed
> than usual, her diagnosis didn't do me much good. Any suggestions?

Hi, Calimetre.

I play the clarinet and have had problems with canker sores. An
important recital was coming up. I did something quite un-HOLISTIC, took
an artificial hydrocortisone in an orabase. This did help heal the sores
by making me sick in general. I gave a lousy performance because I was
feeling run down. On other occasions I rinsed out my mouth with baking
soda. The pain was intense, but this did cauterize them to some extent. I
do not think I damaged my staccato, but I do not think this is very good
for the general sensitivity of the mucosa. I also experimented with
different sprays containing anesthetics, the kind that dentists use before
giving one a shot of the real anesthetics. I still managed to play, but it
was a whole 'nother ballgame. I couldn't count on my technique and found
myself cheating in difficult passages, like lowering the score an octave
and slurring what should be tongued.
One has to forget that one is playing at a disadvantage because this
knowledge is only going to make matters worse. It is not the canker sores
that cause one to lose control, but the fear of losing control (unless the
canker sores are so bad you cannot play at all. Then you should cancel.)
I have never had more than three sores at the time, but nowadays even when
they are located on the tip of the tongue and two on the inner wall of the
cheek where there is contact with the upper teeth, the place I actually
hold the embouchure, I manage to face the pain down with that suffering
nobility that all musicians that play a brass or woodwind instrument have.
I guess this is the musical equivalent of the pain runners feel.
I am sure you have played, as I have, sweating from the flu and a
fever of over 102, with no one knowing the difference. Much to the
contrary. Sometimes a disability helps one's playing. It is amazing what
one can learn to ignore, and part of the pleasure of this masochism is that
no one but you knows. Playing the clarinet taught me a whole lot about
mind over matter. I know this is not much in the way of advice, and I hope
that others on HOLISTIC have less Spartan ways of dealing. Painting canker
sores with silver nitrate will relieve the pain totally, and leave scars
that, in your case, would be dangerous. Don't do it. The nerve endings in
your mouth, and your ability to understand what they say are very
important.
Two things for the future. Instrument cases are rank. I am fairly
sure that outbreaks of canker sores are caused by the interaction of
immunity with the stuff that is on your mouthpiece. Luckily your
mouthpiece does not go into the mouth. I rinse mine fairly frequently, and
this seems to help. When the reed gets really cruddy, turning green from
mould, I scrape it. I only mention this here because it is a sign that
mouthpieces can get very unhealthy. I also make sure I eat lots of fresh
fruit and vegetables and avoid foods that might trigger canker sores in
certain individuals, certain nuts and chocolate, very acidic citrus fruits,
very spicy foods, all alcohol. I have not eliminated red meat from my
diet, but I restrict it to 150 grams three times a week. You might want to
look at your diet to see if there are any associations between what you eat
and the outbreak of canker sores.
There is a Brass list that I have never been able to contact, and a
Clarinet list, to which I will forward this message in case anyone has any
suggestions.

ERIC

   
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