Klarinet Archive - Posting 000114.txt from 2002/10

From: "Gillian Craven" <gillian_craven@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Lower Jaw Pain
Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 07:51:33 -0400

Hi

I had this problem earlier this year. My jaw was extremely painful every
time i played my clarinet and sax and every time i opened my mouth ! It was
awful. I went straight to the doctor who referred me to the dentist. The
dentist did several x-rays and tests and found that the joint of my jaw was
very badly inflamed and this was what was causing the pain. It felt so sore,
I couldn't even open my mouth properly for the dentist. Anyway, the dentist
prescribed anti-inflammatery pills for me to take evry day twice a day to
reduce the inflamation of the joint.This helped slightly but I still have
the problem. My dentist said that this would be a recurring problem and all
I could was keep taking the pills to control it. The only other option was
to operate further down the line if it gets worse.

As I said, i still have the pain most of the time. Sometimes worse than
others. When it is particularly bad, I try to cut down my practise time but
I hate doing this. I am a student and was devasted when my dentist told me I
had to stop playing until it was better- especially since I had an exam
coming up. My performance lecturer's advice was to play through my pieces
without having my clarinet in my mouth. Just finger it and sing in your head
!!!!!!!

This is still a problem for me at times, sometimes worse than other times,
but it should clear up and taking anti-inflammatory medication should help
if you have the same problem. see a dentist !

Gillian

>From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
>Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
>To: klarinet@-----.org
>Subject: RE: [kl] Lower Jaw Pain
>Date: Wed, 02 Oct 2002 23:36:12 -0400
>
>There's no real point in anyone's trying to diagnose this from a distance,
>but it might make a big difference if the "throbbing" pain feels like it's
>muscular or actually somewhere deep in the bony structure of the jaw. And
>whether it's strictly associated with extended clarinet playing or actually
>hurts at other times as well. Seems like pain-causing dental problems (like
>a growing abscess or TMJ) would cause pain under other conditions.
>
>Pain that's strictly clarinet-associated would suggest that serious tension
>has developed somewhere in your approach to embouchure. There are dozens of
>possible sources of tension, but if the problem appeared only recently, the
>first thing to consider is whatever you last changed in your playing or
>your
>equipment.
>
>Still, a trip to your dentist just to rule out anything not related to
>clarinet seems worthwhile.
>
>Karl Krelove
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Robert Reyes [mailto:robert.reyes@-----.net]
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 7:14 PM
> > To: klarinet@-----.org
> > Subject: [kl] Lower Jaw Pain
> >
> >
> > Over the past week I've notice that my lower jaw would be throbbing
>after
> > Practicing or playing for an hour or more. I do tend to
> > overbite, but this
> > is something I've never felt before. My question to the list is
> > Does anyone
> > else experience this and is so what do you do to deal with?
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
>
>
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------

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