Gob full of ulcers

[davhudson]

I have given up playing for the day - the inside of my bottom lip seems to be ulcer city at the moment.

What's the best thing for this ailment?

 

[jonf]

Ulcers

Playing the sax alone won't cause mouth ulcers. Everyone gets them occasionally, but if you have a real problem with them you should see a doctor and/or dental hygienist. It could be that they are exacerbated by stress, poor oral hygiene or they could be a symptom of some other underlying cause.

A good treatment is Corsodyl mouthwash, which contains chlorhexadine, which is an anti-bacterial. Far more effective than ordinary alcohol based mouthwashes. The only problem is it has an adverse effect on most users' sense of taste.

 

[oldcorollas]

are the edges of the reed sharp? are you rolling your lip out?
i have to round the edges of my Legeres for that not to happen.

 

[davhudson]

are the edges of the reed sharp? are you rolling your lip out?
i have to round the edges of my Legeres for that not to happen.

I am not 100% sure it is ulcers now.
No sharp edges.
I have an excercise that I have been given starting on high F

F E F Eb F D F C# F C F B F Bb F A F

I think I have overdone this one and been bighting to get the high notes.

 

[kevgermany]

I've found that old tooth brushes cause them - as the sides splay out, they start cutting into my cheeks...

 

[Oliver Bentley]

I am not 100% sure it is ulcers now.
No sharp edges.
I have an excercise that I have been given starting on high F

F E F Eb F D F C# F C F B F Bb F A F

I think I have overdone this one and been bighting to get the high notes.

sounds painfull... I used to bite loads, to the point of bleeding, and I have a mate who was biting through his lip, and ended up with a huge gouge, a line where his teeth were the went well over halfway through his bottom lip, and was white round the outside like a mouth ulcer can look. when he peeled back his lip it was a good inch long and few mm deep. nice!

This is a very extreme case, but might be a little bit of that. He caught it in time and corrected his embechoure, but if left unattended it may have ended up like the bari player who mid solo bit all the way through his lip and out the other side!! (ultimate respect though - he of course finished the solo)

sure its not as extreme as that, but might be worth talking to a teacher about how to play with a slightly more relaxed embechoure - nothing worse than really wanting to play and it being too sore to.

Oli

 

[snowball]

Try Adcortyl - you can get it from a pharmacy. It's in a paste that you put on the ulcer - it helps the ulcer heal faster. it's brilliant stuff that not many people know about.

 

[davhudson]

False alarm, I think I had just been over practising and made my lip very sore.
Thanks for all of the advice,

 

[QWales]

I've had this issue for years now and the last few it feels like it's getting worse. There are some good tips above which I will try out but I can't help thinking it is sax related. I dont remember having this before I started playing.

 

[6441]

Altissimo practice will exacerbate the condition. Not long ago, I bit my lip while eating, right in the worst place. I then realized that if that happened right before playing out, I'd be in a world of pain!

 

[Ivan]

Altissimo practice will exacerbate the condition.

?

 

[vries1]

I've had this issue for years now and the last few it feels like it's getting worse. There are some good tips above which I will try out but I can't help thinking it is sax related. I dont remember having this before I started playing.

Haven’t had these in many years, but in the past I found that Boots Mouth Ulcer Gel was a simple yet effective remedy.

 

[MandyH]

I've had this issue for years now and the last few it feels like it's getting worse. There are some good tips above which I will try out but I can't help thinking it is sax related. I dont remember having this before I started playing.

Have you been checked for gluten intolerance?

No2 child had mouth ulcers for years. The dentist suggested I got her checked for gluten intolerance - the mouth being the top end of the digestive tract!

Doctor refused to check her but as she grew her diet changed and things have improved. I’ve still no idea whether the 2 were linked.

 

[6441]

MandyH brings up an interesting point worth exploring, that of diet. What we eat and drink can have an important influence on mouth health. Certain foods provoke funny skin effects. I love avocados, but they contain something that sometimes gives me a funny sensation in the mouth.

 

[QWales]

Since Friday I've not played, had no tomato's or chocolate, started using Cortysol twice a day and still need to change my tooth brush. I already cut out SLS toothpaste with a little effect. Things seem to be getting better. Assuming all goes well I will slowly reintroduce them, starting with the Sax of course and see if I can narrow down further and get a definitive solution, for me.

 

[6441]

Best of luck!

 

[Pete Effamy]

If you're talking merely of a bitten-into lip, then this is purely down to jaw pressure. Or maybe you have sharp teeth. Or - you're playing for a really long time in each session. Back in my college days of 10-hour practice days I used a Rizla paper, torn in half and then folded once - placed over my bottom teeth. Works perfectly.

 

[QWales]

If you're talking merely of a bitten-into lip, then this is purely down to jaw pressure. Or maybe you have sharp teeth. Or - you're playing for a really long time in each session. Back in my college days of 10-hour practice days I used a Rizla paper, torn in half and then folded once - placed over my bottom teeth. Works perfectly.

I tend to bite sometimes when I'm eating but rarely puncture my skin whilst playing. When I do though, it always ends with an ulcer. I think it's down to the general acidity in my mouth, hopfully the Corsodyl will help but I must double check this because I'm sure I read somewhere that this stuff can be dangerous. Another thing I've read lowers the mouth acidity is yogurt, so will look to add this to my list of things to investigate.

 

[QWales]

Corsodyl review here - Doesn't seem too bad actually, some staining of teeth and tongue from long term use. Need to ensure you don't drink any staining agents like tea, red wine etc within an hour or so after use. There are potential but unlikely worst side effects. Long term use not recommended but lots of positives for short term.

 

[QWales]

Just in case someone finds this useful in the future I should also say that I started taking multivitamins about 6 months ago. I've seen several recommendations for this and that one of the key ingredients for treating this issue is Zinc.