Klarinet Archive - Posting 000114.txt from 2002/07

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Lip problems
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2002 10:04:52 -0400

Allan Thompson wrote,
>As usual when I have to change embouchures
>quite a bit, and especially in cold, dry weather,
>my lips have become very chapped and painful.
>I have tried the various lip-ices on the market,
>but the problem persists. Does anyone know of a
>'miracle cure' for this problem. . . .

Cold, dry weather! Gadzooks! Well, for starters, you could trade places
with somebody here in Northern Virginia, USA, where it's supposed to be 98F
for 4th of July. I don't know what the humidity is right now, but it's
pretty close to, "Don't breathe or you'll drown."

But seriously . . . . You mention lip-ices. If you're using medicated
anti-chapping products, try plain Vaseline, unmedicated Blistex or another
unmedicated lubricant instead. (In high school, I used a dab of cork grease
on my lower lip after I practiced!) You may have developed an allergy to
one of the additives. Those medicated products are great for short-term use,
but even if there's no allergy, medicated lip balms, especially the
mentholated ices, have a long-term drying effect that can make the problem
worse over time.

A good friend of mine asked a doctor about a severe chapped lip problem that
had persisted for years. This chapping seemed to have no particular cause.
He wasn't subjecting his lips to any obvious irritant such as playing the
clarinet in cold weather. Yet he kept a tube of medicated gunk in his shirt
pocket and smeared his lips with it several times per hour, year round.
People noticed this tic, and he was embarrassed. The doctor looked at his
lips, took a couple of swabs for the lab to make sure there was no fungus or
virus infection, then gave the guy another appointment and asked him to bring
along every product he'd tried. My friend handed over a plastic grocery bag
full of stuff. Without even looking at the contents, the doctor dropped the
whole bag in his trash basket and said, "That's my prescription." It worked!

Lelia

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