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Re: TMJ PAIN

Author: Bartmann
Date: 2007-06-14 16:15

MikeH,

Many instrumentalists suffer from repetitive stress syndrome. Years ago when I got braces, it threw out my bite, so that the right side of my jaw clicked when I opened it a certain way. Playing the clarinet became impossible. So I stopped playing clarinet for about a year.

And I started learning the flute. It is much less stressful on the body and certainly the jaw. When I play the flute I never have jaw pain. However when I play the clarinet for long periods, I sometimes notice the beginnings of a slight pain in my jaw. Because I'm careful about playing clarinet for long periods (more accurately: because my embouchure dies after one hour of steady plyaing). I don't experience pain often.

Since I can spread music making over two instruments, I never really stress out the same body parts in exactly the same way.

Since your second instrument is also a single reed, your not giving your jaw a break. Because you play a second instrument, you know that making music is more important than playing an instrument in particular. So if you switch to another instrument, you can still keep making music without stressing the jaw.

Bartmann

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